came to the leadership of david harper and told them this was the deal. on the republican side, i don't think john boehner was able to do that and therefore every single time we got close, they just walked away. have you close, they walk away. had you ever heard of and the connote -- of and no negotiation where one side makes an offer and the other one never aall?s back at they just did not come back twice in a row. but jessica, you do not have to just be the balance on this, because you know what the facts are. it is an indisputable fact that president obama said to the speaker here is an agreement, i believe we could do better if we had more revenue close to what the gang of six have authored and others.

we can try to get a better deal. the speaker never called the president back. >> there is a lot of concern about the that the sick, even more concerned about the pace of economic recovery and job growth. ellery job growth that goes to what he is put on the table in the jobs act. what else would you pursue to get the economy moving faster than it is today. >> we look at an economic agenda for a second term when we look at it for what happens with this election. we look at it for overall strategy. one is, certainty that comes from all long-term this fall deal that will bring debt and deficit down as a perk percentage of gdp. number two, that you have the

enough momentum so that our recovery can strengthen and job growth and strengthen. we do not want to follow the model of those who would in the interest of long-term deficit reduction unnecessarily slow growth right now. you do not have to do with that way. you can put together a 10-year package that has significant deficit reduction but done in an intelligent way but make sure you have more demand at the beginning of long-term package. people are locking in savings to bring the deficit down. the third part is the competitiveness agenda. i was at an event with the business community. one place this community is more in line with president obama is there are areas like infrastructure, like community colleges, likes them education, like manufacturing where we do have to do more, and have to be

able to invest more. i think an intelligent plan put together all three of those. what has been discouraging is they so harshly cut domestic spending that those who come to places like this and say we are for nih, research, early childhood education for disadvantaged children, you can say that, but if you are cutting so deeply in discretionary spending just to avoid raising a penny on revenues for the well off, you are delivering a serious setback to productivity and growth agenda that even the ceo and business community strongly supports. >> when you say a bit more, and some of the beginning, is that the american jobs act, or would you envision something beyond the american jobs act, something that is another round of stimulus. >> i think if you are designing

an intelligent economic strategy, you want long-term fiscal the descent -- fiscal discipline. you did not want a plan that has some attraction at the beginning that independent macro economist would hurt it would -- would argue it would hurt jobs. you want to phase it in in an intelligent way that gives the economy's strength. there are several things we put forward in the american jobs active that it is mystifying we did not support. i hear a lot about small businesses and on to open doors. the president called for a $30 billion and preventing teacher layoffs and first responder layoffs. this is only recovery in memory in which you have dramatic losses of jobs of the state and local level. the reagan recovery in 1984 had

significant increases, but also part of the long-term agenda. when you hear people at the republican convention say they care about education or science, at the same time they are forcing governors to be cut back 300,000 teachers. how is that good for the long- term? i would say a few things, more of the small business support for hiring. secondly, you could accelerate infrastructure investment. that is good for the long-term competitiveness, but if you accelerate it, you target many your long-term unemployed behind construction workers who are out of work, and doing it the best possible time. i do not think there will be a better time to put construction workers back to work rebuilding our country. third, there is a broad support americans do not understand how larger class sizes is a good way to heal from this deep

recession. >> at the president is reelected, one of the ways to divert sequestration and government shut down some kind of framework for a deal on tax reform that would be worked out later on, because they will have a broad outline that will do this later. could you talk about what that might look like it if you think it is likely. >> i think that is a great question and i do not think anybody has the capacity to say what progress would look like in a technical, a legislative way after november, but if there is a will, there are several ways. you could have an overall agreement that understands there is going to be revenues included for those that are most well-off as part of the package were you do entitlement reform. you could pass a lot of specifics.

you could pass frameworks. in 1997, jack wu and i were part of the balanced budget a agreement-- jack lew and i came up with a very balanced budget agreement. we came up with a memorandum of understanding. the point is what has blocked this from happening is an ideological resistance to having the type of balance plan, shared sacrifice, revenues and the entitlements that is part of every budget agreement. it is how we had a budget agreement in 1983. how we had a budget agreement in 1990. it is how you dealt with the deficit reduction in the 1990's under president clinton. even prime minister cameron and my friend chancellor osborn, the for fiscalboys

austerity, they always reminded their plan has been two to $3 of spending cuts for every dollar of revenue, the exact same as president obama. only the extremism and the ideological rigidity of those who are suggesting that we should do this all on the spending side that has kept us from having an agreement. if we can break through that resistance, there are a lot of ways to make progress. the idea that president obama will agree to these -- i believe are harsher budget than anything has been proposed, of budget that cuts medicaid so deeply that you would expect 19 million people, including poor children, but also middle-class families to of a child with

disabilities like autism or down syndrome, middle-class families who put someone in a nursing home, 19 million people in these categories will lose their coverage. why do they have such a harsh budget? it is because they have to somehow bring that deficit down when this ideological task, once they move away from that, i think there are many ways you could work something out in a lame duck that could avoid sequestration or the other things people are worried about in the fiscal cliff. this president has shown repeatedly he is willing to work towards that kind of compromise. >> talking about ideological rigidity, one thing republicans want is outrageous -- changes in the structure of the entitlement program. a flash point is paul ryan and the idea of premium support from medicare. there have begun to be some flicker of interest. alice rivlin has endorsed the

idea in principle. in some ways, it is not that different than the health care approach where he would give people subsidies to go into exchanges, only it had the public option in it. and you could still go into conventional medicare. is this something you think is completely off the table as a long-term reform? or could that be part of a broader package if republicans are willing to give in other areas? >> i just have not seen the design of this plan that is plausible and viable. but me explain why. -- let me explain why. number one, when the congressional budget office what of the ryan plan in 2011, they did as serious analysis. what they found, and you will hear democrats say that starting in the first year seniors would pay $6,400 more. the question is, for $6,400 more

out of seniors pockets, a huge hit on seniors, a huge hit to the rental security, how much deficit savings did the cbo say you would get? $600. that plan essentially said we as a country will spend more. seniors will spend more, and they will spend more because to bear the cost of higher administrative costs by private sector and administrative costs, and it will pay $6,400 more to lower the deficit for every $600. one of the test we should have for health care is we should try to bring it down not just the deficit, but overall health spending of strategy that helped the deficit a little, but does it by increasing dramatically the cost seniors pay and the cost we as a country pate is not very viable. my second concern is what economists call the death spiral.

that is the notion that in in sharons, if you allow a situation where people can select the healthiest and young guest, what happens is the traditional medicare pool becomes more and more expensive. as it becomes more expensive, more of the healthier and younger people are forced by the high cost to go into private sector plans. that is the death spiral that medicare is our risk. nobody has been able to show that you could adjust for that kind of risk selection in a way to deal with that. those of us -- we understand their needs to be serious measures taken on medicare, and we have even said that hiring medicare beneficiaries would have to pay higher fees in the future. then we have to make tough choices, but we should be very careful, and i think we should

not go there when you were talking about something that has the ability to unravel the fundamental basic guarantee, and i believe the premium support programs that mitt romney and paul ryan have put forward to put a risk medicare as we know it, and create a very real likelihood there will be that type of spiral that not only raises costs by thousands of dollars for medicare recipients, but forces more and more into private plans. i do not think any of us should support that. as long as that is what independent analysis shows. >> thank you for joining us. one more panel for you. my colleague will come up and join my colleague, jessica with a terrific panel that will talk about the environment in which some of these ideas will be considered in 2013. with that we will move some chairs around. thank you. when is jessica yellen's show on

cnn? >> /show was last night. it rears this weekend. wanted to clarify that before i left. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2012] >> this is the third panel. we will continue the conversation about continues would be made about the assumption of president obama is

elected. keep the microphone close to your mouth. at national journal we always take cues from the much more elegant atlantic colleagues. each microphone has a different tape. kind of like a wine glass at a party. everyone knows which microphone to keep using. first of all, are you sure president obama will be reelected? what is the basis of the confidence? and the most important thing you believe his reelection will result, because there is an assumption that this election will resolve issues that have been dividing the country for quite some time. what is your level of confidence in what it? and what is the biggest issue that an election of president obama will resolve, a lease for the time being. >> thank you for having me here this afternoon. it is a pleasure to be here. my level of charity around the

president's reelection, as i have said here and internationally will be an extremely tight election. i believe the president will ultimately win, but it will be down to the bitter end. it is a few counties and districts and states that will matter, but i think the path reelection for the president, he has more avenues to reelection then mitt romney has to be elected. that contributes to my level of confidence in a very tight election. in terms of what it will resolve, i have heard people, and some of us discuss this previously, some people have talked about this being a watershed moment, but it will resolve many things. i do not believe that. i do believe the distinctions are quite clear, but at the same time i think the nation will continue to struggle with very serious questions, but it will assure us of four years for the

president to continue to move forward. for the economy to continue and the kinds of investments in the kind of path to deficit reduction and clarity a round of movement of tax reform that gene was just talking about. as opposed to plans that mitt romney has put forward that do not provide the kind of clarity for us right now. >> listen, i cannot afford to think he will not be elected, and i agree with everything that was just said, and quite frankly i watched the tea party convention last week were they invited a few republicans, and i think that helped crystallize a lot of people's opinions. it will show up in the polls after this thing is done, what we will have later today. i think the president is poised to be a great second term president. look at the presidency of every

two-term president, and they always have to learn some number of lessons in those first four years, project early if they were going to redouble their efforts -- particularly if there were going to redouble their efforts. i think that nancy pelosi argument that she is going to get to 25 are darn close. and i think it is compelling as well. she has to get darn close for at least one, two, 35 people to wake up and do the right thing. this president has demonstrated a willingness to tackle long- term debt problem of the united states. i think he is prepared to do that and prepared to push through a plan if we make some amount of progress in this election, but i assume he will be a great second-term president. >> i agree with melody, i think

the election will be very close, but i believe the president will be reelected, because i do not think this country wants to go back to the policies being advocated by the mitt romney/paul ryan ticket to a place where we're talking about reducing taxes on middle income people. a place where we're reducing regulation in a way that opens us up to the same abuses that got us into the financial crisis that led to the recession we are still climbing out of. i do not think women want to go back to a place where health care choices is something that is problematic. where our environment is at risk, because we do not have an energy policy that recognize the needs for clean, alternative sources of energy. i do not think the country wants to go back to that place. i do a thing when the president

reelected, one of the most critical imperatives is to deal with the debt and deficit crisis, because there are a lot of people, a lot of businesses and families that a sitting on the sidelines waiting for families to consume in the case of businesses to invest because they do not know what is coming in terms of tax policy and the deficit, and it is critical for us to deal with the issue. >> new hampshire is a swing state. of the issues you just described, what is most important to new hampshire voters and what will be put a little? be pivitol?dilill >> hearing the specific proposals that president obama and mitt romney and paul ryan are laying out there is going to be the distinguishing factor, because we're not hearing any specifics from this ticket.

we did not hear them last week at the republican convention. i think when people find out what they're really proposing, there will not like that as an alternative. >> joe courtney from connecticut. >> i agree with the other panelists. i think the right and selection change it dramatically. now people are starting to be uneasy about the fact when they go to vote, no longer about whether you are mad about the past four years or not. -- i think the ryan selection change it dramatically. the student loan issue was dead in the water until the president got in his plane and barnstormed. he went to north carolina, i/o -- ohio. he saw republicans fall like dominoes. he started with those that have been stonewalling the issue for five months.

the president gave an interview where he talked about how we would approach the second term. he really recognize that he has to flex its muscle with public opinion and get out there and communicate more than he did in the first term. as an example, the student loan issue works when he takes his case to the people. that will work with budget issues, fiscal issues, energy issues. i think it will be a great second term. >> the president also says i believe the fever will break, meaning the republican opposition because he will not run for reelection. i sense skepticism that this is more ideology. when it comes to the fiscal click itself, the you see how that is going to play out? do you think the way this will work is to let the bush tax cuts expire so the republicans will not have to say they are letting taxes increase in any way? >> i think the fever will break

to the extent the reality of who will be president will be clear on november 7. part of the problem where no one wants to take the first step over the past three or four months is because there is a belief that this guy will be gone, and why should we deal with him because we can get a better deal with the new president? >> to some extent is that suggesting what their philosophy is is not a true philosophy and they're just playing politics? >> mitch mcconnell made that clear from day one, which the senator is painfully close to and can attest to. >> i actually hope what we're going to see is people coming together to reach some sort of an agreement before we get to the next congress. i think it will be very hard in the lame duck to work out the details of what that might be. so we -- what we might see as an

extension that would allow congress time to put together the specifics of tax reform and of a deficit deal. but i think more and more, and i am hearing this in the senate on both sides of the idle, there is a realization that this is an issue we have to deal with, and we have to be serious about it. anyone who has really looked at the budget understands in order to deal with the debt and deficits we are facing, you cannot just do it on the spending side, you have to do it on the revenue side. you have to look at the defense budget, a domestic budget and mandatory programs. anyone who is serious is a acknowledging that. take out i think it is a mixture of philosophy and politics. what i mean by that is this, i think there are a number, a minority, but a number of tea party republicans that are

holding most of the republican party hostage. i think a decision has to be made as to whether or not the majority will break free. i think jean alluded to it, and you were talking about the deficit negotiations taking place. i actually do believe john been willingmay have to cut a deal. i do not think he could sell it to the rest of his caucus to make that real. i also believe that is consistent with the politics, because people are always looking over their shoulder and wondering what will happen in primaries. they see it play out time and time again. the question is whether or not the bijan unit -- shocks that will hit the country, the fact that we're want to send our economy over a cliff once again if we do not deal with the issue of sequestration and try to avoid it with the deal. if we do not deal with the tax cuts because you cannot pay for

this, if we're not willing to invest in the things that will help this economy grow, if we're not going to do the kinds of things unnecessary and the immediate future to help grow our economy, whether or not people are going to pay attention to that, or whether or not there will be held hostage to a minority of people that have taken pledges that do not make any sense. no economist out there, even across lines, believes we could do this without some level of revenue and spending cuts. i think that is the question and the mixture. >> i think it is politics. i do not think the tea party necessarily believe all what they are saying. they feel trapped. they feel trapped that they will lose their next primary, that they will be challenged. something has to give. i think something will give. i think the president will be

reelected. i do not know whether we pick up 15 seats. if a bunch of tea party folks lose, it will be a lot easier to deal with. a bunch of them are already substantially behind as we look at a november election. we have to get through the next three days, and we have to see what the polls do a couple of days after that, but i think we will see movement. i come from a different perspective. i am a governor. we ought to balance our budget everything go year. it is not impossible. you can do it. i inherited a state with the deficit. 18 months later we were sharing $100 million in the bank. -- we were showing $100 million in the bank. it can be done. it takes a commitment to communicating what you're doing and why you're doing and what the long-term consequences, but it can and should be done. >> one thing i want to put before the panel.

i want to see if it is possible. he did not say explicitly the lame-duck session might produce something along the lines of the grand bargain, but when we were in tampa, and the assumptions are the same here, we assumed mitt romney would be reelected and what would his path to party, and his top advisers told us, mitt romney would want from congress no real huge action during the lame-duck, but run way to deal with in his first year, seven months extending the policy so there can be a consideration of congress for all the issues due to expire did reversed. the lame duck might be time to do a grand bargain. what you think is more likely? i put the question to you, because you are in the cloakrooms and have a sense of what people are anticipating for a very short lame duck.

what could be done then. our -- under either scenario, are we looking at something that takes the can down the road? >> what i have said is i am only willing to go along with something that takes the can down the road if it includes some sort of an agreement for how we will at the end of the six months going to be able to solve the problem and come up with a deal. i do think that is a more likely scenario the and one that suggests we're quite to have it all wrapped up in a lame duck session-- than one that suggests we're or to have it all wrapped up in the lame-duck session. >> it is a controlled house, then i think you could make the argument for a clean delay in terms of sequestration to allow a new majority to take place and

take their seats. having said that, if the structure of the house is are the same, then there is no excuse to just do a simple kick of the can down the road. we really need to go -- there is overlap, even if you look at the romney budget,yan budget and there is overlap sequestration passed in 1985 took seven years before they finally executed a final completion to use the sequestration. i think sometimes people should remember that sequestration on january 1, if we could solve it, great, but the fact is historically, the president shows it does take time for the system to digest the idea is to adjust the structure of the

budget. >> i just hope we do not enter into an agreement again where we will shoot our own dog and people do not agree with us in six-seven months. that is the situation we're in. we're going to do damage to ourselves if you do not agree to what we want. that really is the outline of what the agreement was. we have a pretty big military industrial complex. we just cannot have those kinds of bargains again. we would be better off doing nothing to shoot ourselves in the foot and delay that out six- seven months down the road does not make sense. we thought 18 months was enough time to straighten everything out. >> this affects people's confidence in the economy. we did mention of debt ceiling will have to be wrestled with.

either then or very soon in 2013. this of this all into motion in the first place. -- this set it all into motion in the first place. >> there will be a very large increase in revenue in the month of december, because there will be the people running around the country trying to identify their income in the current fiscal year as opposed to the next fiscal year. states with an income will do pretty well. -- states with an income such as mine will do pretty well. they get change pretty quickly, and that is a change you will see. back to the question, can we do this? we all know we can do this. the president offered a plan to do this. people may try to deny it, and the speaker could have never sold this to his caucus, the only way is to deny he was

ever that frank. the only other thing they can do is offer a plan, and it was pushed away. i think the senator and congressman have made a compelling argument why this will happen, and i believe it will happen, but do not backed us into a corner any further. let's not hurt ourselves. >> you have a unique perspective, but you were in the middle of these tasks, not only policy discussions but try to find the votes and legislative band with in order to create compromise. the only place where that six- seven month temporary solution can be had? or that might be the cauldron to put together a grand bargain? >> i think it can happen. i've worked in the house, senate, and white house. for all of us here, we know, and for a there's an audience to

unseat former white house colleagues, when there is the smell of jet fuel in the air, meaning christmas, august recess, and there are these shocks that exist out there, because whether or not it does or does not happen, meaning sequestration or expiration of the tax cuts, the fact that it will have an effect on the market, will have an effect on the economy, and that combination of things can lead to serious negotiations for the reasons the governor mentioned. there are plans out there. the ideas are out there. we can close the last time. it is possible in a short amount of time to get this done and work out. unless we want to tip our economy into a very dire place, i think people need to get busy with the plan, and we can work through this and the lame duck. >> we do not have a ton of time, but given the gridlock, but the

fact that this issue plays into a lot of politics, the you think there is a possibility congress could do immigration reform? >> by january 1? >> , next year. a democratic senate. >> if the business community really starts talking publicly about what they say privately, the answer is yes. >> i agree. i think a number of the republicans who supported immigration reform of walked away will be willing to come back to the table after the election. >> what i think is true in the united states is we are not reformed education sufficiently the products we need. when you get a graduate degree in the united states, no matter what country you come from, you get a green card. that is an easy place to start with. i would urge the members of

congress to start there. there is an overwhelming agreement amongst the business community that we need more engineers, scientists, doctors. we have a 43,000 short fall a primary doctors. where will it come from? i know where it can come from and what degrees it should come with. >> i absolutely believe it can, because the elements are there to get it done. it really is a matter of politics. you mentioned the business community in terms of the undocumented. people understand businesses and communities are working off an economic engine that includes people that are undocumented. secondly, the agricultural committee. farmers and others who need seasonal workers and crops are sitting out in the field literally not getting picked need this to happen. the high skills issue, we are getting pounded by the business community to get this done, and

with good reason. there is more that can only be done legislatively. the question is, are the politics going to allow the republicans to come to the table, including those of support of this issue before and then rescinded their support going forward? so i think that will be an issue of pressure. there is the executive action taken with the dream act, and all of that can add up to a deal being cut, but i think it sits on the altar of politics. >> before i have this over to elizabeth for concluding remarks, i want to think the best in the business. -- thank the best in the business. elizabeth, please read as of. -- wrap us up. >> we appreciate you for being here and those watching on c- span. to bank of doks

america for supporting this program. enjoy the rest of your day. [applause]

>> a live look now inside the time warner cable arena this afternoon with the democratic convention getting weight -- getting under way later today. delegates are continuing to make their way to this site. as you can imagine, a lot of media outlets are setting up for

coverage. a quick look at the scene now.

>> again, a live look at radio grow inside time warner cable

arena. we will continue to live screatm the shots all day long. also on line, the convention hub. among the options is a service called tout, kind of like a video tweet. it is limited to 15 seconds. >> i am gene oakley from the enduring, missouri. i am here to president -- support president obama. he appealed to canada to have the experience, intellect and what it takes to get the job done for america. >> i want to be a delegate to come up and cast my vote for president barack obama so he can continue the work he started four years ago. >> hi, my name is don ellis from vermont. i am here because i am

supporting a visionary inclusive america. looking for work, rather than looking back. >> i am just smith from vermont. i am supporting obama because i believe we all need to invest in america to make it successful for the future. >> i am here at the convention to cast my vote for full marriage equality. >> hello, my name is diane anderson. i am from south carolina. my main purpose for this week's convention is to reelect president obama, because i know president obama cares for us. >> i am from greenwood, south carolina, and i am here because we will leave here fired up and ready to go in reelect our president for another four years. >> a look at some of the touts

we of gotten in the run-up to the democratic convention. guest today include the democratic national communications director, brad would house. that will start at 4:00 eastern. -- brad woodhouse. the first two hours will feature the democratic national chair, the the wasserman schulz. the convention prime startime wl start with harry reid and jimmy carter. it o'clock hour we will see remarks by -- 8:00 hour we will see congress man. at 10:00, maryland gov. martin o'malley, a keynote speaker. the mayor of san antonio. finally, first lady michelle obama. this of course is not michelle obama as per speech of the national convention. she spoke about her husband four

years ago at the democratic convention. her remarks run about 40 minutes. [applause] as you might imagine, for barack, running for president is nothing compared to that first game of basketball with my brother, craig.

i can't tell you how much it means to have craig and my mom here tonight. like craig, i can feel my dad looking down on us, just as i've felt his presence in every grace-filled moment of my life. and at six-foot-six, i've often felt like craig was looking down on me, too, literally. but the truth is, both when we were kids and today, craig wasn't looking down on me, he was watching over me. and he has been there for me every step of the way since that clear day, february, 19 months ago, when, with little more than our faith in each other and a hunger for change, we joined my husband, barack obama, on the improbable journey that has led us to this moment. but each of us comes here also

by way of our own improbable journey. i come here tonight as a sister, blessed with a brother who is my mentor, my protector, and my lifelong friend. and i come here as a wife who loves my husband and believes he will be an extraordinary president. and i come here as a mom, as a mom whose girls are the heart of my heart and the center of my world. they're the first things i think about when i wake up in the morning and the last thing i think about before i go to bed at night. their future -- and all our children's future -- is my stake in this election. and i come here as a daughter, raised on the south side of chicago by a father who was a blue-collar city worker and a mother who stayed at home with my brother and me. my mother's love has always been

a sustaining force for our family. and one of my greatest joys is seeing her integrity, her compassion, her intelligence reflected in my daughters. my dad was our rock. and although he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in his early 30s, he was our provider. he was our champion, our hero. but as he got sicker, it got harder for him to walk. it took him longer to get dressed in the morning. you know, but if he was in pain, he never let on. he never stopped smiling and laughing, even while struggling to button his shirt, even while using two canes to get himself across the room to give my mom a kiss. he just woke up a little earlier and he worked a little harder. he and my mom poured everything they had into me and craig. it was the greatest gift a child could receive, never

doubting for a single minute that you're loved and cherished and have a place in this world. and thanks to their faith and their hard work, we both were able to go to college, so i know firsthand from their lives and mine that the american dream endures. and, you know, what struck me when i first met barack was that, even though he had this funny name, and even though he had grown up all the way across the continent in hawaii, his family was so much like mine. he was raised by grandparents who were working-class folks just like my parents and by a single mother who struggled to pay the bills just like we did. and like my family, they scrimped and saved so that he could have opportunities that they never had for themselves.

and barack and i were raised with so many of the same values, like, you work hard for what you want in life, that your word is your bond, that you do what you say you're going to do, that you treat people with dignity and respect, even if you don't know them and even if you don't agree with them. and barack and i set out to build lives guided by these values and to pass them onto the next generation, because we want our children -- and all children in this nation -- to know that the only limit to the height of your achievements is the reach of your dreams and your willingness to work hard for them. and as our friendship grew, and

i learned more about barack, he introduced me to work -- the work that he'd done when he first moved to chicago after college. you see, instead of going to wall street, barack went to work in neighborhoods that had been devastated by the closing of steel plants. jobs dried up. and barack obama was invited back to speak to people from those neighborhoods about how to rebuild their community. and the people gathered there together that day were ordinary folks doing the best they could to build a good life. see, they were parents trying to get by from paycheck to paycheck, grandparents trying to get it together on a fixed income, men frustrated that they couldn't support their families after jobs had disappeared. you see, those folks weren't asking for a handout or a shortcut. see, they were ready to work. they wanted to contribute. they believed, like you and i believe, that america should be a place where you can make it if you try. and barack stood up that day,

and he spoke words that have stayed with me ever since. he talked about "the world as it is" and "the world as it should be." and he said that, all too often, we accept the distance between the two and we settle for the world as it is, even when it doesn't reflect our values and aspirations. but he reminded us that we also know what our world should like -- look like. he said we know what fairness and justice and opportunity look like. and he urged us to believe in ourselves, to find the strength within ourselves to strive for the world as it should be. and isn't that the great american story? it's the story of men and women gathered in churches and union halls, in high school gyms, and

people who stood up and marched and risked everything they had, refusing to settle, determined to mold our future into the shape of our ideals. and it's because of their will and determination that this week we celebrate two anniversaries, the 88th anniversary of women winning the right to vote -- and the 45th anniversary of that hot summer day when dr. king lifted our sights and our hearts with his dream for our nation. and i stand here today at the crosscurrents of that history, knowing that my piece of the american dream is a blessing hard won by those who came before me, all of them driven by the same conviction that drove my dad to get up an hour early each day to painstakingly dress himself for work, the

same conviction that drives the men and women i've met all across this country. people who work the day shift, they kiss their kids goodnight, and head out for the night shift, without disappointment, without regret, see, that goodnight kiss is a reminder of everything they're working for. the military families who say grace each night with an empty seat at the table. the servicemen and women who love this country so much, they leave those they love most to defend it. the young people across america serving our communities, teaching children, cleaning up thehborhoods, caring for least among us each and every day. people like hillary clinton who

put those 18 million cracks in that glass ceiling so that our daughters and our sons can dream a little bigger and aim a little higher. people like joe biden who has never forgotten where he came from and never stopped fighting for folks who work long hours and face long odds and need someone on their side again. all of us driven by the simple belief that the world as it is just won't do, that we have an obligation to fight for the world as it should be. and that is the thread that connects our hearts. that is the thread that runs through my journey and barack's journey and so many other improbable journeys that have brought us here tonight, where the current of history meets this new tide of hope. and, you see, thats why i love this country.

in my own life, in my own small way, i have tried to give back to this country that has given me so much. see, that's why i left a job at a big law firm for a career in public service, working to empower young people to volunteer in their communities, because i believe that each of us -- no matter what our age or our background or our walk of life -- each of us has something to contribute to the life of this nation. and it's a belief that barack shares, a belief at the heart of his life's work. see, it's what he did all those years ago in chicago, setting up job training to get people

back to work and after-school programs to keep kids safe, working block by block to help people lift up their families. it's what he did in the illinois senate, moving people from welfare to jobs, passing tax cuts for hard-working families, and making sure women get equal pay for equal work. it's what he's done in the united states senate, fighting to ensure that the men and women who serve this country are welcomed home not just with medals and parades, but with good jobs, and benefits, and health care, including mental health care. see, that's why barack's running, to end the war in iraq responsibly to build an economy

that lifts every family, to make sure health care is available for every american, and to make sure that every single child in this nation has a world-class education all the way from preschool to college. that's what barack obama will do as president of the united states of america. he'll achieve these goals the same way he always has, by bringing us together and reminding us how much we share and how alike we really are. careee, barack doesn't where you're from, or what your background is, or what party, if any, you belong to. see, that's just not how he sees the world. he knows that thread that connects us -- our belief in america's promise, our

commitment to our children's future -- he knows that that thread is strong enough to hold us together as one nation even when we disagree. it was strong enough to bring hope to those neighborhoods in chicago. it was strong enough to bring hope to the mother he met who was worried about her child in iraq, hope to the man who's unemployed and can't afford gas to find a job, hope to the student working pay for his sister's health care, sleeping just a few hours a day. and it was strong enough to bring hope to people who came out on a cold iowa night and became the first voices in this chorus for change that has been echoed by millions of americans from every corner of this nation millions of americans who know that barack understands their dreams, millions of americans who know that barack will fight for people like them, and that barack will bring finally the

change that we need. and in the end, and in the end, after all that's happened these past 19 months, see, the barack obama i know today is the same man i fell in love with 19 years ago. he's the same man who drove me and our new baby daughter home from the hospital 10 years ago this summer, inching along at a snail's pace, peering at us anxiously at -- through the rearview mirror, feeling the whole weight of her future in his hands, determined to give give her everything he struggled so hard for himself, determined to give her something he never had, the affirming embrace of the father's love.

[applause] and as i took that little girl in -- tucked that little girl and her sister into bed at night, think about how one day they will have families of their own, one day, they and your sons and daughters will tell their own children about what we did together in this election. [applause] they will tell them how this pese we listened to our ho instead of our fears -- [applause] how this time we decided to stop out and start dreaming. how this time in this great country, a girl from the south side of chicago can go to college and law school and the son of a single mother from hawaii can go all the way to the

white house. [applause] we committed ourselves to building a world as it should be. tonight, in honor of my father's member and my daughter's future, out of gratitude for those whose crimes we market this week and those whose every day sacrifice have brought us to this moment, let us devote ourselves to finishing their work, let us work together to fulfill their hopes and stand together to elect barack obama president of the united states of america. thank you, god bless you, and god bless america.

[applause] she lovely" playing]

>> hi, daddy. >> hey, sweetie. hello, everybody. hello from kansas city. how about michelle obama? [applause] now you know why i asked her out so many times -- [laughter] even though she said no.

you want a persistent president. [applause] >> hi, daddy. >> michelle, you were unbelievable -- >> thank you. >> and you look very cute. >> thank you. >> that's sasha. >> i am here with the gerardo family -- >> hi, gerardo family. [laughter] >> have got lindsey and hanna and grace over here. they have just been wonderful hosts the whole time have been watching. [applause] >> daddy, what city are you in? >> i am in kansas city, sweetie.

malia, sasha, how do you think mom did? >> i think she did good. [applause] >> i think so, too. i want you to look after mommy before i get there, and i will see you guys on thursday, all right? [applause] >> i love you, daddy. >> love you guys. >> love you. bye. [applause]

>> remarks from first lady michelle obama four years ago at the last democratic convention. she is speaking tonight. the white house calls her "the closer" as she wraps up the first night of the convention. that is and that 10:00 hour, and you can watch it right here on c-span. >> if we turned away from the needs of others, we align ourselves with those forces this suffering -- those forces which are bringing about this suffering. >> the white house is a bully pulpit and you want to take advantage of it. >> obesity is nothing short of a

public health crisis. >> i had antennas that told me when somebody had their own agenda. >> i think it they serve as a window on the past to what was going on with american women. >> she becomes the chief confidant, the only one in the world he can trust. >> many of them were writers. a lot of them were writers, journalists. they wrote books. >> they are in many cases it more interesting as human beings than their husbands, if only because they are not first and foremost defined and consequently limited by political ambition. >> dolley was the socially adept and politically savvy. >> dolley madison loved it. mrs. monroe absolutely hated it. >> she won her husband that he

cannot rule without including what women want and what women contribute. >> to much looking down, a little too fast. >> probably the most tragic of all of our first lady is. they never should have married. >> she later wrote in her memoir, "i myself never made any decisions. i only decided what was important and when it to present it to my husband." stop and think about how much power that is. that is a lot of power. >> part of the battle against cancer is to fight the fear that accompanies the disease. >> she transformed the way we look at these bugaboos, and made it possible for countless people

to survive and to flourish as a result. i don't know how many presidents realistically have that kind of impact on the way we live our lives. >> walking around winehouse grounds, i am constantly reminded about all the people who lived there before, and particularly all of the women. >> "first ladies: influence an image," produced in cooperation with the white house historical situation, coming in february 2013. >> a live picture outside the time warner cable arena, where media outlets are preparing for coverage of tonight's dnc event. delegates will assemble to hear speeches and votes for barack obama for president and joe biden to repeat as vice president. we have been showing you shots

inside the arena. we will continue to have them available to you on line all day at c-span.org. charlotte is known as a diverse city, with many industries, and here's a quick peace on the history of banking in charlotte. >> when did these big banks first start coming to charlotte? >> it is a long history in how these grew up in north carolina. the first reason was in the early 1800's, banks across the state were allowed to branch and have multiple branches around the state, which you could not do in a lot of different states. the banks here started getting bigger than their peers across the country, and the first really big bank was in winston- salem, wachovia. over time, the banks started getting better looking and the banks and a shalit started catching up with wachovia, and the big ones were the one that

became bank of america, and union national became first union. those with th -- the big banks in charlotte, competing with each other, doing deals, making acquisitions. now we have bank of america as the biggest bank in the country. i guess based in charlotte. $2 trillion in assets. the other big bank, first union, merged with wachovia and took the name and got into trouble during the financial crisis and almost failed. that is now owned by wells fargo out of san francisco. in theory, the only big bank still based here is bank of america, although wachovia is part aof wells fargo and still has an employee based in charlotte. >> the problems they were having -- what were some of those?

>> the banks blew through acquisitions over time and stumbled on the last big acquisitions. wachovia at a lender called golden west financial in california, right at the top of the housing bubble. it had a lot of mortgage issues that they inherited, $100 billion in mortgages. housing prices were really falling apart. they had investment banking issues as well. it put them in trouble, going into the financial crisis. bank of america bought first countrywide financial, the biggest subprime lenders. merrill lynch, the biggest investment bank, and a lot of concern about the merrill lynch deal led to the government bailout and congressional hearings and hand-wringing about what happened at there. the countrywide deal is the one that is causing a lot of problems. there was a lot of trauma during the financial crisis. wachovia over one weekend in 2008 was literally ready to

fail, they were trying to figure out who to sell it to. the ban were going to sell it to wells fargo, and then they backed out. wells fargo came back with another deal. there were moments where, really, wachovia was close to failing and they were not sure what was going to happen, and another in deal fell through at the last minute, and wachovia switched from citigroup to wells fargo and there were confrontations between lawyers for wachovia and the citigroup side, and they said, we will pursue you for billions of dollars, and they did. >> what effect did that have on the city of charlotte and north carolina? >> a big effect. from 2008 to 2010, we lost about three dozen financial- services jobs, which acquitted to about $1 billion -- from 2008 to 2009, we've lost about 3000 a financial-services jobs, which

equated to $1 billion. the mortgage-related stuff they were doing, nobody really does any more, which is a good thing. the couple of positives we've seen is that some big companies are coming in town and said it and would create offices here, of operations here and take advantage of some of the financial services folks who are here. smaller firms have spun off from the banks, and as the bankers and private equity firms. we have i more diverse financial sector. >> having all of these major banks here in the city -- what has it done for charlotte? >> they grew up in the city and the leaders of the bank's work on building the community. the ceo of bank of america is

known for building the uptown area and trying to improve the arts scene. out of their own self-interest, they wanted to recruit people to move here. first union, same type of thing. when one bank would build a skyscraper, the other bank would build a bigger skyscraper and they would go back and forth. they would help build arenas. it has a lasting effect on the city. the democratic national convention is coming here. the leader of duke energy -- we had an energy company instead of a banker doing a big a civic event. we had been covering the banking industry since 2001, which was right when first union and wachovia were emerging, which is a big deal for these north carolina banks.

the financial crisis was unfolding in 2008, 2009, and we are still paying close attention to bank of america. last week, warren buffett decided to invest in the bank, so that was a boost of confidence, but it is sort of an expensive investment and there are questions of whether they have the capital they need to get through all of their losses meet certain standards they have to meet. wells fargo and wachovia are finishing up that merger. we will see the wells fargo signs show up here and in north carolina. the wachovia name goes back to 1879 and will kind of be washed away, so that will be a bittersweet moment for north carolina. >> we are looking like an inside the time warner cable carena, where i just a few hours -- we are looking live inside the time warner cable arena, where in just a few hours the democratic

national convention will get under way. earlier today, politico correspondent mike allen interviewed valerie jarrett on what to expect from this week's democratic national convention. the convention begins today and features speeches by jimmy carter via video, and francisco mayor julienne castro, and michelle obama. >> thank you for coming out. we are excited to be in the city. we had fun last night out on the counter we are honored to start this morning with a gallery jared, who has the title of senior advisor to the president, which barely begins to scratch the many portfolios she has.

after that, we will hear from someone who has been to many democratic conventions and is film,-writer of eigha new and we will feature clips from that trip and we will finish with indict cecil, the director senatorialocratic campaign committee. i want to start by thanking our partner for these events. "the charlotte observer" has been fantastic to work with during the convention. we want to welcome c-span, viewers on politico.com, and we have a story on mrs. obama, who is speaking tonight. front page -- "who'll stop the

rain" -- making it sure that the president is able to speak outside on thursday night. thank punish it and support of these conversations on the road, in -- bank of america for their continued support of these conversations on the road, in tampa, here. >> good morning, everyone agreed on behalf of my colleagues at bank of america and our chief public strategy officer this morning, i want to welcome everybody to charlotte. is great to be here, where 15,000 employees every day joined the 250,000 employees around the world to help people manage the money and help small and large businesses to grow and create jobs. bank of america has put $2 trillion into the economy and given away over $600 million in philanthropic support to help

our economy grow and recover. i can assure you that as the economic recovery continues, bank of america will continue to play our part. we are thrilled to be partnering with politico, and as mike said, we continue to bring leading political figures to the stage for a thoughtful, in-depth discussion on issues affecting the country. we are happy to be here this morning. >> thank you for making it possible. now we are honored to welcome valerie jarrett, described in "the new york times" as the single most influential person in the obama white house. [applause] >> good morning, everybody. we are up bright and early this morning. >> thank you for coming out so early. with an extremely special guest arriving. >> the first lady, is that who you mean? >> your mom. >> oh, my mom.

my mom, daughter, new son-in- law, all are arriving today. >> her first convention -- >> can you believe that? she has a pretty good seat at the house. >> you are chair of the white house council on women and girls. you were telling me backstage about an experience you had in virginia last week. >> i was traveling around the state, and i have a series of roundtables with women who were undecided. i had a chance to move them from the undecided to the decided column. i think i did a good job. they wanted a conversation on how the president is fighting so hard for women, and we're seeing at the federal level how the president believes in a woman's right to choose and how the first bill he signed was the lilly ledbetter act and how is fighting to combat domestic

violence. also, the economy, our president has fought so hard to get our economy moving in the right direction. it was great to talk to people and hear their stories and hear how their stories resonated with what the president is trying to do. >> in addition to your déjà, you will be out on the trail as well. >> we will be busy text several days. the states and it is -- the stakes in this election are high, and not anonly as a senior adviser to the president, but as a mom and someone looking forward to being a grandmother one day -- not right now, but someday soon -- it is important to me that my grandchildren inherit a country where people understand it is important to grow our economy with a strong middle-class and the top down,

trickle down economics the other side is proposing did not work in the other administration and there is no reason to think it will work now. for all those reasons, i am all in. >> democrats will have a successful convention if what? >> we are looking forward to a discussion with the american people about what the president inherited four years ago, and the road map for the future. we are hoping that will crystallize very accurately the choice before the american people, two very different philosophies for how to move our country forward, and one where the president's is one that resonates broadly, and if people vote their self-interest, they will vote for him. >> the first lady -- >> who i thought you were talking about -- >> lois romano has a story about how she will make a positive case. >> what the first lady will do

is set forth why her husband deserves a second term. it is a very positive message. a unique advantage point on the president. at the end of the day, when he is pouring over those letters and talking to her about his values and his vision and the decisions that he has had to make an why he has made the decisions he has made, and why, again, from the perspective of a mom, it is is so important that he be reelected. she does it in a way that is a very personal but in a way that will connect broadly with people out there. >> and what about the president's speech on thursday night? >> he, too, will talk about it hard work we've done together moving the country for and give a clear road map for the road ahead. we have made a great deal of progress over the last four years, but we also have a lot of hard work to do.

there are far too many americans who want a job could not have one, and the president will be specific about what is left to do. >> one of the criticisms of republicans is that they were not so specific, and people, a lot of people ask what this president will do, but a second term. how clear is a second term to you? >> his vision -- >> what will we be checking off two, three years from now? >> very concrete. i will leave it to him to give the details, but we need to move our economy forward, continued investments we have in education, improving our community college system. it has been very important that the president -- the president and first lady finished paying their student loans off years ago. when i first met them, they were

engaged and how was trying to recruit the first lady into local government, and one of the decisions they work try to make was good they afford it, because they had some which a student at between the two of them. he advocated so strongly to make sure that interest rates did not double. those come from his life experiences. >> what was your first encounter with the president? >> i met the first lady -- i was recruiting her, and an hour-and- a-half later, i realized i was no longer interviewing her, she was interviewing me. at the end of that, i said, "you have this job offer," and she said, "would you mind meeting my fiance?" it was a big decision for me to leave the law firm and join the public sector, and i wanted to make sure this was the best way to do it, and he wanted to be part of that conversation. i still remember that dinner

very vividly, and await they looked at each other and respect and love they had, and the way the president listened to her and to me and how we interact -- >> still -- >> yes, yes. he listens closely to her. he has a smart man. >> and you. >> well, maybe. i was impressed by how thoughtful and consume it they work in doing something that added value, and that this was a joint decision making process. >> tell us something about president obama that we don't know. it can be serious or it can be funny. >> i am struck at the person you see before the cameras is the same person you see behind the scenes. early on we used to have the staff meeting, and some of the people who did not know him that well would say to me, "i heard him say this, but what did he really mean?" they are used to people in washington not saying what

they mean. he means what he says, and the person you see out there bank is the very same person we see. the letters he meets, the people he meets -- oftentimes he will meet someone for just a moment and he will say, "please follow up with that percent, are we doing everything we can." small business, for example -- "make sure you put them in touch so they no they have the opportunity for access to capital." he cares about each of the individual seats and all of the american people. what you see is what you get. >> how does he run the west wing? >> he has a very strong and effective management style -- >> hands on, hands off? >> both, in essence. he is interested in bringing together a diverse group of people who have different

perspectives. he listens to all those perspectives straight he pushes the person in a room with whom he disagrees the most, because he wants to make sure they are thinking through decisions. his decisions are often white or death decisions, and he wants to make sure he is making them in the most thoughtful possible way. he enjoys the discourse, but he drives them to a conclusion so he can make a decision and move on. >> you were friends with the president and first lady long before they were in the public eye and long after they have been in office. how has that was unchanged during these 3.5 years? -- how has the president changed during those 3.5 years? >> he has grown, as anyone would. his core values -- character, integrity, moral compass, what motivates him and drives him -- he wakes up every single morning

thinking about you, putting aside short-term political agenda and focusing on how to move our country forward, and that has not changed. his confidence in office has grown. he looks back over the last four years and is very proud of his record. he is looking for to another four. >> he jokes about the gray hair -- >> we tease him about that. mine is not that funny, i m ay add. >> it weighs on him. >> it is a 24 hour a day job. >> we hear about his sense of humor. how does he handle the burdens? how has he adjusted to this new life? >> it is an incredible amount of responsibility, more responsibility than anybody else in the world has. he is still also a normal human being and he likes to laugh and

he goes out every evening and has dinner with sasha and malia and the first lady, and they talk about their days, and he is interested in hearing about their days and that provides an enormous amount of balance, because they are not interested in what happens in the oval office. they want to talk about what is going on in school. that gives so many people the balance you need to get back the next day. >> even the hardest-core republicans say that all indications are that they are incredible parents. >> they are absolutely amazing -- >> young lady turned out to be remarkably normal -- >> as everybody knows, his father abandoned him at an early age, and that a certain hole in his heart, and he made up his mind early on that he would be a far better father then he had. he looked as if the first lady's father is a role model --

looked to the first lady's father as a role model. he got up early in the morning said that he could get dressed and go to work, even though the first lady and her brother, craig, received a very generous scholarships to go to college, he still wrote a check. it was so important for him to contribute. he showed up. he was up parent who was involved and he cared any listened to his children, and that -- he has been a role model for the president. >> what will -- small business -- what will that look like in the second term? >> the long term economic success of our country rests with the private sector. that is where the growth comes from, where the jobs come from, and what government can do is foster an environment where businesses can thrive and grow. what more can we do to create

that kind of environment? that is part of why we invest in education. businesses tell you it is so important that they have a work force that cannot just compete in the united states, but i global marketplace. we are training people for the jobs of tomorrow, not the jobs of yesterday. one of our priorities is focusing on science and technology and engineering. also on elementary and high- school. there is a particular emphasis to get young girls involved in those subjects so that they can participate in the growth industries of tomorrow. there is still so much that we can do together with business, and it should be a partnership. >> when you began this amazing adventure with your friends the obamas, you were the clear underdogs. >> we were the underdogs. even when we are not, we fight like we are. you cannot take anything for granted. the stakes are so high. up until election day, the

president will be fighting very hard to earn the respect and confidence of the american people and secure a second term. >> how was this convention different from denver in 2008? >> denver in 2008 was very aspirational. we were looking to the future. now the president has a robust track record. keep in mind what happened not long after the convention. the last six months of the bush administration, our country lost 4 million jobs. now we have created over 4.5 million, with 29 consecutive months of private sector job growth. in the last convention, we were still in the war in iraq. the president committed to end that more. the last convention, people who worere gay could not serve in the military. the president repealed don't ask don't tell, so that no matter who you love, you can serve and make a sacrifice for your country. i could go on for another 20 minutes -- >> last question.

you didn't sit and watch the republican convention, but you saw clips on "morning joe"? >> i am a loyal viewer. >> you read playbook and watch "morning joe." >> absolutely. it seemed personal focus on the president. you should be focusing on your roadmap for the future. he is focusing on you, the american people, what he can do to build a strong middle-class, a very optimistic vision. we think that this week will crystallize the choice that we have before us. i hope that by the end of the week, the president will say yes, the president should continue on. >> usenet four years and washington now. >> hard to believe. >> do you feel like a washingtonian or a chicagoan?

>> i will always be chicagoan, but i met a wonderful people in washington, including mike allen. >> thank you. [applause] thanks for joining a busy morning. you were the national political and fill the director of senator clinton's presidential campaign, ind the political director of 2005 to 2007, when you won the majority. how come so many candidates are missing from the convention? >> look, we have a lot of close races. when you look it be last, really, decade, we have more races within single digits that at any point since probably before 1990. a lot of them want to be home talking to voters. in close elections, that is what they should be doing. >> of all people missing --

mccaskill, tester -- >> very close races. our advice to them, particularly in close races, is do what is best to win the election, and for them, it is being in their states, traveling around their states, talking to voters. that is what we want them to do. >> to what degree does your success in keeping the majority fall with the president? >> obviously, there is always a correlation, but it is less so in senate races, certainly in house races. their ability to push the message particularly i crowded media environment -- if you are a voter in orlando or las vegas, those markets are saturated with ads from the presidential race and the senate race the race is have the chance to be a choice between the two people -- a great example is north dakota,

where most folks give us very little chance of being competitive. most prognosticators have it as a toss up. one example from our internal polls -- with eight weeks ago, the president was down 13 points, despite that, she was leading. four of weeks later, the business down 19 points, she was still leading. -- the president was down 19 points, she was still leading. it is a perfect example of a state where voters know both candidates and she has the opportunity to exceed what the president will do. >> in virginia, two former governors are running against each other, george allen and tim kaine. >> it is much easier to describe what mitt romney or tim kaine

border looks like than 18 watched and obama or george allen voter looks like. you have women who in particular will be looking at issues around choice and contraception. so much focus has been given to todd akin, but when you strip away the hateful rhetoric, most of the republican party has the exact same position. when you have someone like george allen, who is in favor of a person could amendment, which failed in mississippi, chances are that it will impact how voters viewed the election. i think tim has the opportunity to run ahead of the president. it is very unlikely that george allen will run ahead of mitt romney. >> we have a map we can take a look at. start by giving us the big overview. how many do you have to win to keep the majority? very real possibility of a 50-50

senate. >> it is. when we started this election, we had 20 seats to defend, the republicans only had attended most folks gave us no shot of holding on to the senate. a host of things, from candidate recruitment to fund raising to, frankly, mistakes on the republican side, we had managed to bring our chances to win the senate to probably a 50-50 split. we have 16 incumbents and four of those are in competitive races. seven open seat races, three of those are very close -- virginia, wisconsin, north dakota. the thing that most people are not expecting -- >> just leave the map up. >> i know it by heart at this point. people were expecting that we would put five or 10 of the republican seats in placate

massachusetts, nevada, indiana, arizona, and, of course, maine. when the president wins, the republicans will need four seats, and for every seat we pick up on the republican side, he will need an additional seat. that is why we are so aggressive in contesting places that democrats have not contested in a while. >> massachusetts has a strong republican for a very blue state. elizabeth warren has been surprising. >> there are 800,000 more voters that will turn out in this election and turned out in the special election with scott brown. all the public polls have this is the margin of error rate. the most important thing when you're looking at public polls, which in many cases near our private polls, in many cases they are for the present by a three-1 margin. we feel good about who is on our

side and our ability to communicate with them. we have short memories in politics but people forget that in march of last year, everybody thought this race was over, scott brown was too popular. going into the fall election, we have a margin-of-error rates in a democratic state. i think she will do very well tomorrow night. >> tell us what you are watching, and i will be mean and ask you to start in maine. >> angus king is the favorite -- >> independent -- probably would caucus with democrats. >> we've not had conversations -- >> you have a democratic candidate. >> one of our challenges is we have to invest in races -- >> where are you spending the most money? >> things change as time goes

on. ohio, florida get the most money in large part because those states are so expensive. we can be on television in montana for three, four, five months, and it is cheaper than being on the miami market for two weeks. just by the nature of the markets, we spend more there. we are heavily invested in north dakota. we have been on the air in indiana, which is a sleeper race. we expect to be on the air in arizona. >> if todd akin out of the missouri race, and he still could, will republicans win? >> republicans could win whether he got out of the race or not. >> you are saying he could win? >> sure. missouri is a very conservative

state, a culturally conservative state, are religiously conservative states -- >> a poll has him still hanging in there. >> there were two that have him within the margin of error. no question that was todd akin said was completely out of bounds, and remarkable the speed at which the republican is talisman chose to throw him overboard. i believe claire mccaskill kenwood regardless of whether he stays in. it will be a close -- claire mccaskill can win regardless of whether he stays in. it will be a close race. when you look at what are the telltale signs of holding the majority, virginia and massachusetts are two key states. massachusetts because it is important for us to contest and when a republican-held seat. virginia because not only is it a presidential bellwether, but 90% of the polls done so far

have been within two points. >> if you have a race you want to ask about or a big picture question, just signal and we will get you the microphone. how you dealing with that separation issue with ads in ohio and florida? >> in ohio to date, $16 million has been spent against sherrod brown. this is one of the under-covered stories of the cycle. despite that fact, we are in better shape today than we were before they started spending one penny -- >> you have outside groups, too. >> but the spending differential is five or six-one. bill nelson still leads in the seven-to-eight-point range. we are investing more online, we

are doing more targeted ads -- >> how do you do the targeted ads? >> in the senate race in colorado, which i ran last cycle, we were almost myopicall y focus on two things -- hispanic turnout, and particularly independent women in the suburbs of denver and colorado springs. the way we purchased television, the content of our ads -- 70% of our ads focus on choice and contraception in a cycle that was supposed to be about the deficit and economy. we were much more focused on those particular targeted groups. if you look at what the president is running today in a place like colorado, it is a similar approach. >> what are the president's chances in colorado? >> very good. the changes in colorado should favor the business, because the

coalition michael bennett bill is the same that the president needs. maximize turnout, make sure we are communicating with them to maximize the vote, and focus on women, independent women, white women in the suburbs of denver and colorado springs. if he does that -- there was apoll after the republican to mention that still for the president leading there. >> north carolina isn't a senatorial race, it will be in two years, but what is your thoughts about the presidential race and whether obama can. again this year? >> i think he can. north carolina and virginia are permanent battlegrounds, because of the population changes in these states. they are growing states. a lot of them are entrepreneurs, from the tech industry. you have a very large and solid

university system did you have a growing hispanic population in both of those states, as well as a core of african-american voters. women in those states open up the opportunity for them to be competitive and ultimately for the president to win and i suspect it will be a battleground toss of state all the way into the election. there are two poles of this week, one showing romney winning, one showing the president winning. that is my definition of a battleground. >> can you talk a little bit about wisconsin and what strategy is there? >> before the primary, there were a half-dozen polls. without exception, all those polls show that tommy thompson is either tied with tammy baldwin, with that, as woma -- or that congresswoman baldwin is leading. baldwin got a bit of a bounce after the primary, and the

race's beginning to settle back into the margin of every race and i expect it to stay that way going forward. >> there are increasing chances that mitt romney will win wisconsin. >> i think it is a bit of a mrige -- mirage coming out of the convention, the ryan pick, what was a solid couple of weeks for wisconsin for republicans. i think the president will contest it, and this is a case for the presidential campaign and the senate race will run a very close to one another. tammy has a good campaign theme. she is running a smart race, traveling around the state and focusing on a populist argument around tax cuts and the middle- class. the other thing i would say is that we did focus groups and wisconsin, and voters have no idea what tommy thompson has been up to for the last seven years. he has essentially peddled his

interest to every corporate board -- >> ok. we have a question over here. >> what kind of resources is the party putting in two hispanic media? you mentioned to the growing influence. >> we have a lot of races where the hispanic vote will be pivotal, particularly in the west and florida, but also in virginia. tim kaine, a fluent spanish speaker, has a spanish-language ad right now. of spanish language and english language. hispanic voters are focus on things like the dream act and immigration reform, but also particularly interested in issues around education, pell grants, student loans. we are focused on that as a way to communicate.

>> you said that virginia is the closest senate race in the country. if tim kaine wins, why? if george allen wins, it will be why? >> if tim kaine wins, it will be in large part because the voters were willing to separate the presidential and senate race. two, those women in the suburbs who voted for the resident and then voted for the current governor decided that george allen was simply too extreme for the state. if tim kaine -- i mean, if george allen wins, it requires the wind to change and be at the republicans back. i don't think that will happen in the course of the next couple of months. i was listening to you and chris talk to there was nothin -- talk. there is nothing is so significant that changes the dynamic of the presidential race. >> what is the state that

would surprise us? >> north dakota and montana, those states are locally driven . when you hear about the keystone pipeline, which senator tester supports, when you hear about epa regulations on farm besdust -- i am from miami, and we don't have many ads on farm dust and the epa -- more republican states, and a lot of the conversation is locally influenced. >> how soon will we know if you keep the majority? >> late night or early morning. >> it will take a while but is it because of time zones? >> one, we have a lot of races out west. those will come in late. we have a lot of early voting.

and odds are we will have 3 or four really close races. that could go into the next day. >> real quick, what is a surprise, where you think you couldshock? >> before yesterday, i would've said north dakota. i think indiana as a chance to be a competitive race, and in large part because the republicans chose richard murdoourdock over richard lugar. part of the reason is it is not just because of republican issues versus democratic issues. mourdock, day after he won the nomination, went on television and said that his idea of bipartisanship is when democrats agree with him.

i think -- the other thing he said is that the problem in d.c. is that there is too much bipartisanship. >> tea party is rising or falling? >> rising. when mitt romney loses the election, it will be a real challenge for the republican party, because you will have folks say that they should have elected a true blue red meat conservative to i think the fight in the party will last a couple more elections. >> thank you all for getting up early. thanks to bank of america for making this possible. we appreciate "the charlotte observer" for your great coverage and a partnership. >> thank you. [applause] >> we are looking why inside the time warner cable -- live side of the time warner cable arena.

35,000 delegates, international media representatives, and a national political leaders are expected to gather for the convention. maximum 25,000 people and is home to the charlotte bobcats of the nba. in an hour, we will begin our preview, and this show is available all day at c-span.org. one item we are featured in our social media coverage is our google hangouts. >> tell us who you are most interested to hearing this week. if you are interested and hearing president obama, give us someone else you are also interested in hearing. >> i am looking forward to hearing president clinton.

he is a great motivator, i love listening to him speak. >> i am looking forward to elizabeth warren. >> i am looking forward to vice president joe biden. skin,s under republicans' and i think that is appropriate this convention. >> my heart is always with my home state and barney frank. i've never heard such a brilliant orator. he is so talented, and he always comes up with something that has that little massachusetts swag to it. >> joe biden. the republicans have made this guy out to be a clown and a joke. i'm telling you, this guy has been around the block, a senator for decades, a fighter, a middle-class guy, and he will tell them what he really thinks and how he really feels it the nation will sit back and say,

wow, this guy is not a joke. he is a real. >> we love joe! >> it join us later today for our preview program leading to the start of the dnc. our guests include democratic national committee communications director brad woodhouse. the first two hours feature democratic national committee chaired debbie wasserman- schultz. declared our will see remarks by house candidate tammy duckworth and lincoln chafee. at 10:00, maryland gov. martin o'malley, keynote speaker julian castro, and finally, first lady

michelle obama did the democratic national convention officially starts today. yresident obama's deput campaign manager stephanie cutter said that two of the goals of the convention is to convince voters that he made tough choices for the country and he has the path forward. other speakers include campaign manager jim messina and the campaign press secretary. this was held at the nascar hall of fame. it is just under an hour. >> welcome to "newsmakers live" with abc news and yahoo news. i am joined by diane sawyer, and we have as our guest today the campaign manager, jim messina,

deputy campaign manager stephanie cutter, and press secretary ben labolt. without further ado, my boss, diane sawyer. [laughter] >> our years together has been a wonderful thing for all of us, and it is truly great to be here with all of you. we know what it means under marathon schedule for you to be here. i will start with questions that have been coming in. there is one that we have heard most often -- if the president gets a second chance to serve the american people, how will he convince voters the second term will be better than the first? >> he is building an economy that is built to last with investments in infrastructure and education. that is the choice in this

election and it is the choice we will lay out in this convention. >> let me ask about a moving target of a question. one year ago, the president said when asked if he was better off, he said i do not think they are better off, but we have seen a shift in. the vice president said the country is better off. what is the distinction? >> the country is better off. the vice president said it better. gm is alive, bin laden is dead. there has been progress since the day the president took office. we were losing 800,000 jobs a month. in the six months before he took office, 3.5 million jobs were lost. the housing crisis was impacting

middle-class families, tax payers were bailing out banks. let's look at where we are today. our financial system is the most stable in the world and we put protections in place. we rested the auto industry. the housing industry has stabilized and it is on an upward trend. middle-class families, their taxes are less today than when the president took office. small businesses have 18 different taxes they are using to build small businesses. the president has always said that returning to where we were at the start of the recession is not good enough because life was not great for middle-class families back then. we have to do better than that. that is why the president is

fighting to make sure we can continue investing in education, the single most important ticket to a better future and a strong middle class. we passed historic health care reform so that economic security does not depend on health security. we are making sure the next great invention is an american invention. these are important building blocks we need in place to build an economy that a strong over the long term. jim messina mentioned an economy that is built to last. this is what the president is putting in place. we know what to do if we do not want the economy to last -- risky spending, tax loopholes -- that creates an economy built on a mountain of sand, basically. the president has turned it around you will hear this week

some of the concrete things -- are around. you will hear this week some of the concrete things they need to do. >> if the president says the country is better off, will he be say you are better off? >> i do not want to get to what the president will say specifically in his speech but over the course of the week you will hear what the country has done through over the past four years, and the tough decisions that were made, often decisions that were not popular to do what is right for the country. you will hear the president say we have made progress. we are better off than we were four years ago, but that is not good enough. if >> building on that, there is a monthly jobs report friday. when the president takes the stage how much will he know about that jobs report if

anything, and are you worried a disappointing jobs report could undermine the message of the entire convention? >> over the past decade, which is for middle-class families have slipped, so the question they are asking is how do we restore economic security for the middle class? stephanie cutter focused on the progress that has been made. if you were an auto worker when the auto industry was on the brink, you are a better -- you are better off today. if you have a pre-existing condition and were changing jobs, your health insurance was at risk. you are better off today. the question they want to hear is how do we win the race to the top four in good-paying, sustainable jobs for the middle class? the focus will be on the pillars of an economy built to last -- energy, manufacturing, education

-- that is how we will restore security for the middle class with investments in those areas instead of cutting back, like governor romney and paul ryan want to do. we will look collectively at the past four years and ask where we want to go from here. that is not what we heard last week from the republicans. we did not hear a plan for restoring economic security. >> you do not that they will look at friday's's numbers -- friday's numbers as a trend? >> they will look at the test four years, the fact that the economy was in a freefall, the progress that has been made, and they will ask who has the better plan to restore economic security? governor romney has proposed $5

trillion tax cuts for the wealthy. we did that in the past and it led to the slowest pace of job creation since world war two. we cannot go back to the same policies that cause the economic crisis in the first place. >> that is what this is really about. we are on a path forward. is it as fast as many would like? absolutely not. we know what we need to do. elections are about choices. we can continue moving forward, putting building blocks in place, strengthening the economy with a strong middle class, or go back to the policies that crashed the economy, the policies mitt romney has put on the table. he will repeal wall street reform. if that means we are on the hook to bail out the banks. he will repeal health reform, which means our companies can drop us if we are sick.

these are the exact same policies that crashed the economy in the first place. why would anyone want to go back there? >> i want to follow on the question from olivier knox. does the president get the jobs report the thursday night before it is released? >> i honestly do not now. [laughter] >> stephanie cutter? >> i do not know either. >> ok. one point you are trying to make, and the president makes it again on the cover of "usa today, " where he says the rival bands the truth. you are accusing governor romney and paul ryan of telling lies. when you make charges like that, do you not think it is incumbent to make sure that every claim that you make is truthful.

do you not undermine your own cause when, for instance, the vice president says bain capital tim kaine taxpayer bailout one man is not true, -- bain capital took a taxpayer bailout, which is not true? do you not on the mind your own charge when your -- undermine your own charge when your campaign is not truthful? >> let me address those individual claims, but first i will say we work hard to get it right. we look at the facts. we could walk through those claims or any that you would bring up. when when million jobs and more on the line in the auto industry, mitt romney said we should let detroit go bankrupt, but when it came to the challenge with his firm he went

to the fdic to get a bailout. >> taxpayer funds? >> it is taxpayer guaranteed. >> if that is not what the vice president said. >> jake tapper, i understand the conversation about whether campaigns sometimes bend the truth. we try very hard to get it right, unlike the romney campaign, who said they will run their campaign without fat checks. i am your own network, paul ryan was at it again. it was not our headline thursday morning. it was the news media headlines about the lies in paul ryan's speech. we have to it knowledge there is a difference in running a campaign and flat-out lying. paul ryan once again this morning said the president was responsible for the closing of a

gm plant that closed. at the announcement was made in december, 2008, the production stopped before the president took the oath of office. give us a break. >> that put the congressman in a position of attacking the medicare savings that he preserved under his own budget. >> if and this man was chosen because he was the intellectual leader of the republican party. >> i am wondering as a larger proposition, when your campaign says things that are not true, such as the examples that i cited, does that not undermine the outrage factor of things that the other side says that are not true. -- that are not true? >> we generally dispute this. there was a situation earlier this year where "the washington

post" reported that mitt romney invested in companies that pioneered outsourcing. they ran that story, and the fact checker been bumped and their own reporting, so there are sometimes different sets of facts. all of the examples you brought up, the fdic bailout, we presented the facts, we made our case, did everything we can to make sure they are accurate, but the entire premise was based on a set of lies, and a replacement for governor romney talking about his policies. he did not hear about the $5 trillion tax cuts for the wealthiest or how if we pass his proposal would be harder for students to get loans, and turn medicare into a voucher system.

you heard the president's remarks ripped out of context. you heard congressman ryan attack medicare savings in his own budget and use the example of the plan that was stated for closure before the president took office. >> please, everybody, tweet, but before we come back to these issues, a couple of mechanical things -- 8 75,000-seat stadium thursday night. do you know you have filled it? >> we are excited. it is an opportunity to do something the republicans did not do. we will have a convention that is a conversation with america. it will involve 75,000 people thursday. we had an innovative program in north carolina where volunteers

gave us nine volunteer hours for one ticket. it bolstered our grassroots operation across north carolina and virginia. we think innovations in the way we use technology and grass- roots will help us become a national convention and we are excited about that part >> no question every seat will be filled -- that. >> no question every seat will be filled? >> we are very excited. >> just as an anecdote, when we announced that the tickets were available, tens of thousands of people came out in north carolina to get the tickets, and they were gone within hours. across the country, every state have an allocation, and they ran out. i think there is enthusiasm and i do not think we will have a hard time selling that it. >> another question i got in the

elevator late last night is has an advisory got out with taking furniture out on the stage? we knew mayor's julián castro said there will not be a chair. did the president authorize the tweet that said the chair is taken? >> if it is not signed vo he authorized it. we were trying to have some fun. we use social media to be front >> which one of you wrote it? >> none of us. >> we are not the creative. >> we are not the funny people. >> exactly. >> not to drag this from m d chairs to attack policy, but you have been hitting mitt romney on

his proposals, and the president said in general you do not want to raise taxes in a recession, and he is proposing a tax increase on incomes above two hundred $50,000 -- $250,000. what is the difference there? >> the president wants to make sure taxes do not go off on middle-class families. if you make less than to under $50,000 a year, he wants to make sure your taxes to not go up. mitt romney has made promises. let's look of the math. $5 trillion in cuts for the wealthiest kid he would either explode the deficit, -- wealthiest, he would either explode the deficit, or raise taxes on middle-class families.

he has called for congress -- the president has called for congress to take immediate action. we are talking about 98% of americans here, and 97% of small businesses, and we are talking about a return to clinton-era tax levels. that is not a radical policy. if you looked at the difference between the clinton era and the bush era, the clinton era did unleash growth and job creation. this is part of a balanced approach to reduce the deficit and spur job creation. >> so that is the answer? i understand the political usefulness of this at a time when your -- when you are champion the middle class -- >> every bi-partisan debt commission has said you need a combination of spending cuts and

revenue to achieve the goal of a balanced debt reduction. this is an area where romney and ryan have refused to ask the wealthiest for a dime in order to reduce the deficit, and the present believes we need to take a balanced approach. i think every bi-partisan the commission agrees with that approach. >> it is all about making tough choices. if you want to reduce the deficit, you have to make tough choices. the president has a plan that makes those tough choices -- cut spending where we do not need it, reforms to medicare and medicaid, and asking the wealthy to pay their fair share. the top 2% arguably are doing ok, and the idea of everyone doing their fair share is a powerful one that most americans agree with. if we want to move our country

forward and unleashed long-term growth, we have to make tough choices and i want to use that money to pay for education and given the top 2% a tax cut they do not need an did not ask for. >> i am reading a question here, will the campaign address more fiscal issues? do you expect to take, and expanded view on the art -- an expanded view on the debt and the deficit, or do you feel like you're doing that now? >>. that is one of the things we have talked a lot in the context of an economy built to last. the debt clock at the republican convention was appropriately placed next to a sign that said we built this because the fact is congressman ryan voted for the major drivers of the deficit

during the bush administration -- the tax cuts for the wealthiest, the medicare prescription drug plan that was not funded and two wars that were not funded. when the president went to converse with a balanced reduction plan the new york times -- "the new york times" reported that congressman paul ryan advise republican leadership not to negotiate with the president because he thought it would help the president's reelection. he put politics before country on that matter. the president knows we need a balanced approach to reduce the deficit and he has been working for action on this over the past few years. >> are you sure that was not a photo shot? -- shpped? moving on. and ronnie -- ann romney gave by

all accounts is successful speech, creating some warmth for her husband. what is the job tonight for michelle obama? playing off of that, what do you want from bill clinton? who will he be speaking to and what will his message do? >> we will talk about president clinton now. president clinton has an economic record second-to-none. he will talk about the choices in this election between what he did and what the president wants to do, the choices and his incredible messenger on this. he will give a compelling speech. we have a television ad featuring president clinton talking about his support for the president's plan and what that will do to help our country move forward and we feel very good about his speech tomorrow night. >> do you think he will address the welfare reform had given

that it was his bill in 1996? >> i will let him give his own speech, but he has done it, several times, saying it was not true and set the record straight. >> do you agree with pundits who say that there is a race- baiting a foot in that and, that is not just an issue that ed, the republicans are trying to do something more nefarious? >> that is a question for the romney campaign. i think they are completely not credible. every independent analyst that as looked at that and understand it was republican governor is asking for waivers so they could put more people to work, 20% more, and it is fundamentally not credible. >> stephanie cutter, what the what the first lady to accomplish this evening? >> certainly, everybody knows the first lady after her first

introduction to the country, and everybody knows the president, but what the first lady can do is give a glimpse into the they'll use them drive the president, and his commitment -- values that drive the president, and his commitment to the middle class comes from living at the struggles of middle-class families. finally, why he is made the choices he has made -- health- care reform, publicly not popular, a tough thing to get done, but personally, he had a healthcare story. his mother struggled with health care in her final days. with that memory, it drove him to get health care done so everybody would know how care would be there when we needed it most the first -- needed it most. the first law he signed was lily ledbetter, because he saw his

grandmother yet passed over -- get passed over for promotions for fellow male workers who did the same work that she did. he wakes up every day fighting to improve the middle class, and she can speak very personally about that motivation and values and the things that drive him to do what he does. she is a first-person testament to what he has done over the last four years to show strong leadership in trying times. >> who will introduce the president on thursday night? will she be there? >> she will be there. >> you will have to watch. >> not clint eastwood. >> this question comes from jaclyn dunn on facebook, and she writes that she earned both

a bachelor's and master's, has seven internships and has -- is currently living with her parents and is applying for jobs she could've gone without her student loan debt. she says what about recent graduates that cannot get anything better than a part-time job? specifically, how of respect to the opposition, how resonating do you think the sentence was that paul ryan -- paul ryan said was that college graduates should not have to live out their 20's in their childhood bedroom staring at fading obama posters? >> when he is proposing to do about it is not going to help those graduates. we need to make sure we make investments right here in the united states.

while mitt romney and paul ryan might join the global race to the bottom where we pursue cheap labor costs where we can find them, and outsourcing that put our economy at risk, while cutting back on infrastructure and investment, we have been making investments in areas that will create the jobs of the future here in the united states. look at renewable energy. we have doubled renewable energy production in this administration. all we have heard from mitt romney and paul ryan is how they would cut funding in that area. when the president granted rescue loans to the auto industry he attached it to a restructuring plan that is allowing detroit to produce the cars of the future right here in the united states and use in manufacturing reborn the use in manufacturing reborn.

-- use in manufacturing reborn. how will we win the race to the top is the real question to create sustainable jobs for the middle class including recent graduates, and we believe that requires both investments and balance deficit reduction. those are the pillars of the economy built to last that this convention will focus on. >> i think the republican convention was tactical. you can read it in mitt romney's speech and paul ryan's speech where they were tried to play to specific segments of the society, and certainly that was to the youth vote. the problem is that is one line in a speech. young people are looking for policies and ideas that help them and the country move forward. that is where mitt romney and paul ryan went wrong. i could tell you from our experience on the campaign, and

jim messina can talk about this, in terms of user enthusiasm we are at an all-time high on the campaign. in 2008, everybody remembers it as a young person's election, and it was, but the number of young people that turned out was only one percentage higher than it was in the previous four years. now, that was critical. there were two states that determine the outcome, indiana and north carolina, but with the difference was it is young people came out and worked for the president's re-election, volunteered their own time, and were inspired to get involved the same thing is true all over the country this time around. they are organizing the hell of of those campuses pair we are above where we were in terms of voter registration -- campuses. we are above where we were in

terms of voter registration. we feel good about it. it is more than just one line in a speech. >> the president highlighted that last year -- last week. sunday in boulder, colorado, he could not get everyone in there. our on the ground operation is registering students and we feel great. every poll shows the president's lead with voters under 30. >> can you do the numbers for us? 6000 workers, 95% were young -- 17 million people online -- compare these numbers from 2008 and today. >> we have seen an absolute expansion of what we had in 2008. we have hit 150% more.

we registered more one of 47% more voters than we did in 2008, and half of the voters that we registered were after labor day. on the ground, we continue to see incredible enthusiasm and we will beat the 2008 records because we have had five years to build this, and because we know how to do it better. we see real enthusiasm because people understand how important this election is. >> how is the app working to identify democratic voters? >> we roll out a first-of-it's kind app called the dashboard where people can organize and whenever they want. it lists people that might not be registered or who might not have supported us yet, and this

is light years ahead of where we were in 2008. >> compare the mitt romney effort? >> they are doing more than the john mccain campaign did, so i want to give them credit for that, but they are nowhere near where we are on the ground. in north carolina, we already have 50 field offices open. they have not opened their 20th. in ohio, we have 100. they are someone near 30. we have a much bigger infrastructure on the ground. we have challenges. we will be the only campaign that could both persuade voters and turn our voters because of what we are building on the ground. they do not have what we have. >> this is the first president in history that kept supporters and his grass-roots organization in place during the course of the presidency, so supporters

were engaged in efforts to pass wall street reform and the affordable care act. we have been organizing on the ground during this campaign for 500 days, so while the republicans were pummeling each other during the primaries, supporters were talking to friends and neighbors about the president's record in key states. the republicans might be able to build an operation that will help them for the final couple of days of the election, but they missed the persuasion window over the course of time, relying primarily on television advertising, and at some point i think voters will tune out to some of that, and a call from a friend will be much more effective for many people. >> let me say why that is important. i was in ohio and there was a

neighborhood team leader convention. these people were doing it for five years. we never took the operation down. i met a team leader from columbus who said something very wise. he said i have been an organizer for five years and i know every single dollar in my neighborhood, though the support the president, those that support governor romney. i know those that are undecided. the romney campaign is just starting this summer to put people in her neighborhood. she has a five-year head start. >> if you do not mind, what about micro-targeting in that regard? i did read in "washington post," i believe, that you know that strain -- swing voters

.rink more micro-brewe is that true? >> jim is not a swing voter. >> right. micro-targeting is the topic of the day, but it is still conversations, a voter-to-motor conversations and we will be as targeted as we can. >> tell us some of the amazing thing is that you know about individuals? >> then i would be telling the romney campaign what we now. here is what is true. we will give supporters innovative tactics like dashboard, programs where they could load facebook friends and how to reach out to them to do one simple thing, to make people's job helping us easier.

to make people's jobs as an organizer for the president very simple and clarifying to drive a simple choice in this election. if we do that, we will turn out all the voters will need to turn out and we will persuade the people we need to persuade. >> i know you do not like to pull back the curtain to far, but a battleground state and tell me how many percentage points you think your on the ground is where? >> in north carolina, we won by 14,000 votes last time. we built an amazing into a structured to organize more people than the state ever had seen organized terror we're continuing that. we surpass what we built in -- organized. we are continuing that. we think there could be a one- point or to a dual-point difference in one or two states.

we have always dealt a ground operation that will get the points that we need to win these states. >> the president has referred to the prospect that the election will talk the blister or break the fever of the opposition. how do you work with that party? why is it all on them? >> it is not all on them. both parties need to come together and the president has acknowledged that. what he is talking about is the two things that have blocked our ability to get anything done in washington. first is a republican party that vocally said their number one job was to make sure the president is a one-term president. that is number one. that as a certain dampening effect on your ability to get some things done. number two is an unwillingness to make tough choices and doing

on comfortable things. the republican party in the house is extremely unified. we have learned that. the country learned that for the debt crisis. the thing that prevented us from moving forward and putting a deficit reduction deal on the table where the president was doing some -- making some tough choices, is the unwillingness to ask wealthy americans to pay 1 cent more in taxes to help move this country forward. those two things alone have been enormous roadblocks. when the president says break the frieder or -- fever, what is the other one? >> pop the blister. >> which is disgusting, the american people can send a message, do you want a lack of progress? do you want washington to be mobilized to protect these tax %?ts for the top 2

>> is immigration reform an area where you might get republicans? give me an example of the big projects that will require compromise. >> i worked on immigration reform with. kennedy in the senate, but we were dealing with different republican party back then. in the last four years, the party has moved far to the right and immigration reform, and so it is difficult to see in the elected representatives who we could work with on reasonable reform. look at the republican nominee. sherer far pale is the -- sheriff joe our peril is an adviser. he is probably the most anti- immigrant official is advising the mitt romney campaign and high-level. right now, it is difficult to see a pathway of where we could

find a compromise. when we are asking for is not unreasonable. >> are there better areas? >> sure. education reform. >> education reform -- and i do think there is a possibility for a deficit reduction deal. i think everyone understands we need to make tough choices and it is a matter of when that dan is going to break. >> i have a question from vincent on twitter, since we are at the nascar museum, has any of you ever attended a nascar race. >> yes, i have. absolutely. i watched the race the other night. now that i'm done sleeping for the next 63 days, i watch a lot of dvr. >> and your silence is -- [laughter] >> which one is more on likely? >> that is a tough call. >> my father grew up in

indianapolis. we would see the indy 500 every year, and i paid enough attention that those are stock cars, not nascar. >> i have not. i have always wanted to, and i am being honest. [laughter] i am not tendering. it is not a big thing in massachusetts. >> we could get to that later. president obama was asked recently about the grade he would give himself and he gave himself and incomplete. it has been four years does that answer cut it? and incomplete after a full term? >> yes, it does, because, once again, i will remind you of what life was like when he took office. 800,000 jobs were lost in that month alone.

3.5 million jobs in the six months prior, and quickly he was able to talk -- take a job losses into job growth. we are on a path forward. we are on our way up, and there is more he wants to get done. whether it is ensuring we are number one in college a education again in the world, or that this country can be energy independent, or middle class families can regain the security they have lost over a series of decades -- when the president says we did not come into this overnight, this was decades in the making, he is right. we will not get out of this overnight, but look at the building blocks he has put in place to put the country on a long-term path for sustainable growth. >> sherry has a question on twitter, basically, how much will the president address afghanistan? i assume he will.

how much? >> again, i do not want to predict how much the president will do of anything on thursday night, but i think it is safe to say you will hear him talk about afghanistan. i think it was a major blunder on mitt romney's part not to acknowledge that we have men and women fighting on behalf of this country in afghanistan. so, the president will mention afghanistan, talk about our troops and veterans, and what we are doing to draw down the war in afghanistan, insuring that our veterans are protected when they come home, and our commitment to provide for those who have put their lives on the line for us. >> governor romney has largely failed to outline a foreign policy vision at all, and part of what you will hear thursday night from the president and speakers like senator john kerry

are about the global challenges that we face and how we confronted them. when the president ran for office he promised to end the war in iraq in a responsible way, to refocus on al qaeda and afghanistan, and to restore alliances around the world. we have made a lot of progress on those fronts. from governor romney we have heard chest-thumping and tough talk over the last year, but we have not heard a coherent foreign policy vision. we have not seen a plan for america's relations in any region of the world. we saw his audition on the world stage and you saw the results. what was supposed to be a very easy trip going to london, talking about his olympic experience, he ended up alienating our closest ally. while volker -- voters are certainly. -- focused on the economic choice in this election, they

are evaluating the candidates to see to will be theest commander in chief, and part of the program thursday will be dedicated to that. >> what is the most to hope for out of this convention, and compare it to october 3, and the first debate. >> putting aside bounce, and the romney campaign said they were gonna get any 11 point bounce, and they did not get it. we will not predicted bounce, because we think it is difficult for an extreme movement in either direction. when we want out of this convention is for people to understand the president has made tough decisions over the past four years because it was the right thing to do for the country, not because it was politically popular, and to understand there is a choice in this election, and a stark choice between the direction of the economy and how we want to

build our economy, and number 3, a path forward. when people are walking out of that stadium, or turning off their television, or leaving one of the watch parties happening all over the country organically, it is not something we are organizing -- when they leave, that they have a good understanding of the path forward, the road map, what the second term will be about, how they will continue the progress we made. a strong middle class is at the core of a strong economy, and i think people will have a good idea of what we need to do that. >> and, in the debate? >> in the debate, well, we are looking forward to it. [laughter] >> we expect him to do very well. [laughter] >> does that answer your question?

>> very well in what particular way? >> obviously, the next two months will crystallize the choice that is out there, certainly seemed the candidates on the same stage a dressing their visions for the future will be an important -- addressing their visions for the future will be an important moment. at a republican convention last week, governor romney failed to outline a path forward. he will have to do that at these debates, and when americans compare the merits of the plans between building the economy from the middle class out, or going back to the same policies that led to the economic crisis in the first place, that will crystallize the choice for undecided voters. >> the president is looking forward to the debates because that is really where the american people will have a first-hand view of what these

candidates will mean for the country. mitt romney has been running for president for six years but he is waiting until the very end, or maybe never to putome details behind his platitudes and policies. when he is standing on the stage next to the president he will have to put some details out there about how he will pay for the $5 trillion tax cut, how he will end the war in afghanistan, when he means when he criticizes the president for not being tough enough on iran? what exactly does he mean, because so far we have not heard anything he would do differently. all of these issues he has been discussing and criticizing the president for, when we get to the debates he will have to put some detail on the table and what exactly around the presidency would mean turned >> so, this is a hearing myself -- mean. >> so, this is a hearing myself question. when i sit down to watch television, high watch a lot of

-- i watch a lot of dvr. it is struck me that i see a lot more obama advertisements on sporting events. how has dvr effected the way you advertise? >> i think yes effected media in general. there were more ads in july than there was in october in the 2010 cycle. a three-year-old pointed at a television and this and who is that, and he said barack obama, and he was asked what he does, and he told his that he approves this message. we think those voters are going to walk out and have a real conversation with a supporter, when all were volunteers at the

door, online, and we are building a campaign to be part of that discussion in a way that we think is important because people get their political information from many more sources and we are building a campaign to be part of that discussion. >> we have five minutes left, so we will have one quick question and won quick answer. the bank of america stadium, how much concern -- there seem to be an effort to refer to it as panther stadium, not bank of america stadium. how much concern was there about the optic about holding an event in a stadium with that name? >> we are paying the stadium authority to grant a facility, like we do all over the country. i think people understand the difference and we are excited about it. it was important to go outside

the >> are you worried? >> we will have the convention rain or shine, unless we are putting people at risk, and we will monitor the weather. rain or shine, we will hope to be out there. >> it might be embarrassing to hold an event if you supported repealing wall street reform, but we know what the president stands. he took action to make sure we never saw the financial crisis repeated, and that we never have to rely on taxpayers to bail out the big banks. it might be embarrassing for governor romney to hold the event there, but we look for to having 65,000 supporters in the stadium. >> we do not talk about this much, and we probably should, but every dollar that was used to bail out the banks has been paid back thanks to this president. >> the romney camp would argue that the most popular -- powerful thing he said in his

speech is there is something wrong with the job he has done as president when the best day you had was the day he voted for him. >> these are lines in speeches. they're not prescriptions for the country. they are not a path forward. if that is the most powerful line in his speech and he was counting on that to get him across the finish line, then i think he needs to go back to campaign 101. i do not think that cuts it. clearly there is a lot of excitement about his election in 2008, and there is a lot of support for the president's reelection right now. we would not be in the position that we are in if there was not. we are at or above the enthusiasm of every re-election in recent memory. we feel pretty good about it.

if that is the high point in mitt romney's speech, then i would probably fire the speech writer. >> olivier, about one minute >> i will ask about a line in a speech -- about one minute. >> i will ask about a line in the speech, joe biden, post -- osama bin laden is dead, and gm is alive, who came up with that? >> i think that he did. >> do you think that is a bumper sticker? >> we had some pretty big thing is to get down for this country, and we did them. bin laden is dead. we broke the back of al-qaida. the auto industry was on the verge of bankruptcy -- and iconic american industry that would have meant 1 million jobs lost to rock the country, and now they are creating hundreds of thousands of jobs. it has been just four years, and

these things have gotten done. it took 70 years to pass health care reform, but we got it done. >> can we do it confidence word? how confident are you that you're going to win? >> we understand this will be a close election, we are confident in the choice and when people understand the choice we are confident in this election could >> confident. >> -- election. >> confident. >> ditto. >> hit the american people see it as a choice, you think you will win? >> that is what mitt romney said when he chose paul ryan. we have implemented the romney and ryan policies before, and they were a financial house of cards that collapsed in 2008. >> my point is if it is a

referendum you might not be as confident, but if it is a choice, you are. >> well, it is a choice. >> i would take that as a yes. we have 30 seconds left. jim messina, as campaign manager, is there a last word you would like to get in? >> we are excited to be in north carolina to do the national messaging, but to have a discussion with the entire country, and we will use as an organizing opportunity. people will be excited about some of the things we will roll out to have people participate in this campaign to build what we are trying to build, the largest grass-roots campaign in history of politics could >> we will let you have the last word there. thank you to our panel. ben labolt, stephanie cutter, jim messina, and thank you to jake tapper and i am sora -- diane sawyer.

be sure to watch for coverage on yahoo! and on abc news this evening. thank you. [applause] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2012] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] >> can i get a quick group shot of everybody right there? >> right here, facing me. >> live pictures inside the time warner cable arena in charlotte, north carolina. once again, we are about one hour away from the democratic national convention. final preparations are underway for the start. the arena is slowly filling with delegates. we attend this live camera up all day long looking at the sites and the sounds, and giving you a front row seat. you can see it all at our website c-span.org, and we will

watch this shot. take a look at some of the activity.

>> that is good.

>> cites and sounds at the time warner cable arena this afternoon, preparing for the start of the dnc, about one hour from now. you can continue to watch this on our web site, c-span.org. we have posted tweet froms the convention, including some from delegates. zack young talks about the forecast, as it just started pondering. david adkins tweets. you can tweet @cspan.dnc. >> during the republican and democratic conventions, we are

asking middle and high school students to send a message to the president as part of this year's student cam video documentary competition students will ask the question, what is the most important issue the president should contest -- consider next there is $50,000 in total prize is available. c-span's student cam video competition is open to students rate six through 12. for completein grades 6 through. >> good afternoon. from charlotte, n.c., this democratic national convention is getting under way today. some new polls today has this race essentially at a dead heat. the democrats will be using this week to outline their plans for reelection and the agenda for a

second obama term. women, hispanics, the two key constituencies for the party. michelle obama made her way to the podium to check out the convention and rehearse her own speech. only here will you have complete gavel-to-gavel coverage of the proceedings. in the next hour, the gavel will come down by convention share. along with the mayor of los angeles. we will also hear from steady hoyer. his delegates are voting on the convention rules, followed by the convention platform. followed by governor bev perdu and pat quinn, then head -- tim kane. he is the former chair of the democratic national committee. we will hear from nancy pelosi,

along with the mayor of charlotte, and a fox, harry reid, and our 39th president by video, jimmy carter, who accepted his own party nomination here in 1976. also, a tribute to the late edward kennedy. nancy keenan will deliver remarks before the delegates. governor lincoln chafee of rhode island, and governor cliburn of south carolina. the former governor of ohio will deliver remarks to the delegates and kathleen sebelius, along with the chicago mayor, wrong -- rohm emmanuel. at 10:00 eastern time, martin o'malley, a potential 2016 candidate for presidency.

and the first lady, michelle obama. joining us inside the arena, our national political correspondent for "the new york times." as you look at these polls, a very small percent signed -- very small percent of undecided voters. >> the constituency for democrats is not inside this arena. this is intended to reach the wider audience in swing states, and including here in north carolina. it is all of the democratic voters of voted four years ago. those voters have the various levels of energy, enthusiasm, and some of them need more enthusiasm. the most anticipated speech tonight is from the first lady. her advisers tell me that she is really going to try to explain in great detail the personal

side of president obama and what he has done and tried to do. i think we will be able to tell the kinds of voters they're trying to reach by listening tours speech. of course, the sliver of undecided voters is small. both campaigns believed it is anywhere from 4% to 7% and narrowing. these independent voters may not be as sure this time. >> i will come back to those points. susan? >> i am here with brad, the communications director for the democratic national committee. he saw this as an empty convention center, but now things are coming together. what is your reaction? >> i am thrilled. we were to bring this months ago. it will be a really exciting night.

this is the first night of our convention and will be great, setting the tone for the rest of the week. >> tonight viewers will see the convention starting at 5:00. what are the messages that you will be sending out? >> we will adopt our platform, and it is one that we are extremely proud of. a platform that reflects the president's views. building the economy from the middle out, as opposed to the republican approach, which is the top down. as far as a platform it really respects every american. lgbt, women, the role that immigrants play. it is an important contrast to the republican platform. that is one of the exciting things tonight. >> people have been parsing the

document already and are concerned that it does not specifically mention israel, and that there are concerns over foreign policy. >> you cannot satisfy everyone. it does address israel and the issue of this peace process. it is similar to the language in the 2008 platform. we are really extremely proud of it. they had their platform process right before the convention. they knocked -- they locked it up. banning abortion in some cases. they talk about getting vouchers for medicare. they have flocked to their ideas away. we have our platform and our president and we are proud of it. >> there has been discussion from the pundits the cannot capture the same sentiment from 2008.

what do you hope to come out of this convention with your delegates? >> one thing that we want to come out of this convention is a sharp contrast. we believe that there are two competing visions of america. our president, then the candidate, was new and it was exciting. there have been some tough years in office, but the country is moving in the right direction and we want to continue that. when people wake up on friday morning, we want them to say -- i get it. when people woke up on friday morning after the speech from it romney, they did not know. they heard all of the things he had to say there were negative, but he did not make a case for himself and his second term. the speeches that you will hear tonight will make that case as well. >> will the democrats have the money to counter the

republicans? >> look, we are going to get out and spend. the outside groups on the other side, we are talking about some of the wealthiest americans. but we think that when this election is said and done, the role that c-span and the media plays, people get a lot of information from newspapers and c-span, we think that that will really win the day. we take a premium on organizing. i believe that this convention will be decisive in putting this back in the president's column. >> i do not see him, but we will come back to you in a couple of minutes. >> at the outset, let me let you know it is allowed inside of

the time warner cable a reno. if there is background noise, on this issue there is an enthusiasm that. how real is that for the democrats? >> it is not just a rumor or an anecdote. you actually see it out there. republicans are motivated, without question, to defeat president obama. perhaps more so than to let the mitt romney. i think that a key for the next 50 days is to make sure the democrats know the urgency of this, that mitt romney can win this election. these are party insiders. even a lot of them do not seem as worried as some of the obama campaign officials. one of their challenges, if you

talk to their strategists, is that they have to convey a sense of urgency, that the president needs support now. >> let's take a look at how the president has talked about michelle obama, her role having evolved from the wife of a senator to the wife of a president. earlier this summer in iowa, he had this to say. [video clip close brackets >> it is true that i have not seen her in five that -- five days. except i caught the end of jail leno. [laughter] the only reason that i think she is happy to see me is because she knows that after today, she gets to go tomorrow and get our girls from sleep away camp.

we stand in the way of her getting to her babies. >> [inaudible] >> i have to tell you, when i stand her -- here and listen to her, i am just reminded how lucky i am. because she is a woman of strength and integrity and honor. she keeps me straight every single day. she is the best imam in the world. and she is cute. and the problem, sometimes, when i listen to her talk is that i will start to choke up and i forget what i am going to say. but i could not be prouder of her. i often say -- back in 2008 i said it, i was not perfect.

i do think that she is the perfect person late -- first lady. i want you to know that. [applause] >> this is of course the president and the first lady. their life is an open book. is there anything that we do not know? >> she is very -- she was very reluctant to this, initially. i remember interviewing her when she was still -- when he was still a senator. but now i think there is no question. talk to her family, her friends, she is firmly committed. you can see how she is hat -- helping out with this. i was struck by last week, after the paul ryan speech, when she suddenly showed up on letterman. this is a person with much stronger appeal and her husband.

she reminds people why they may have liked him. voters, of course, can make their own decision, and rarely do so because of a first lady, but it does help to remind them of why he won them over four years ago. it is part of why his likability is as high as it is. because of her. it is about how the image has been presented of him as a family man over the last four years. >> flint, michigan. hello. >> i just love the president for what he has done. i cannot say what he has done for others, but i love what he has done for the united states of america and myself. we have not only been supporting him in words, but get your license, your identification,

your registration in order, because we need that boat. >> thank you. jeff, one way for the obama campaign to do this is the ground game. how strong is it in the battleground states? >> they have been doing it for quite a while, steve. that is one of the reasons the campaign started as early as it did, opening across the country. they have a big head start on to romney, but they need one. the need to activate with this army of activists. voter registration is key. a lot of the laws have changed around voting over the last four years. it is something that is at the heart of this organizing campaign. look, a grassroots " -- grass-

roots organizing campaign is not going to trump the economic environment and about whether people feel the country is on the right track or the wrong track. but it will find the voters who think that he should be reelected. history shows that the voters to come out, the more that come out, the better they will do. it is one central part of this campaign, finding every voter who voted for president obama last time. >> jeff is inside the arena, susan is on the floor. susan? >> we found senator bill nelson on the floor. he has quite a phalanx around him. what do you hope to accomplish? >> get some support to the florida delegation right here.

this is a great opportunity. which all of the fact-checkers say is untrue. it was $700 in savings extending the life of medicare, coming from providers, not beneficiaries, in medicare advantage. that is what the truth is. this convention is an opportunity to set the record straight. >> how much is your fate tied to president obama's. >> floridians are fairly independent. but i really think that once the record straight, the president will win florida. if he does, that is it. in the meantime, i am running my

own race and that is why i am going back to florida tonight. i believe that there tomorrow morning. >> the economy in florida is still in tough straits. how will that issue of fact tonight? >> it will be a combination, plus national security and the restoration of the gulf of mexico. all of the above. but people are going to need to deal in the truth. >> thank you for talking to us, senator. >> let me pick up on the point about medicare and florida. how much will we hear tonight and the next few days about the plans and different responses? >> it will be interspersed in the messages of this convention. michelle obama will not talk specifics about the medicare plan or give a specific

response, but she will talk about a safety net. i am really eager to hear when he says. his speech this said they didn't know because the issue really has become from the obama administration, pushing back against the critique over medicare. voters are looking at it in a different light. it may not be, to use a cliche, the third rail. it is one of the things that

will be litigated for the next 60 days. >> i asked a one of the senior aides and he said the -- 9:59. >> a similar thing has been joe. i talked to the this morning, who tried to get a look at the clinton speech from four years ago. remember that? that was a different time. some of the delegates were still very much in support of senator clinton. but president clinton knew exactly what to say. president clinton is already being used in advertisements. we have seen him here, making

that economic fairness argument. i guess the question is, how long will it be? will he go on, like in 1988? i doubt he will do that. >> by the way, the roll call of states, you can see that tomorrow evening. and you can watch the entire process, one of those great convention traditions. anthony, maine. go ahead. thank you for waiting. >> you just want me to talk about what i think? >> let me ask you, what do you expect to hear from the democrats? >> i just think they are going to talk about the usual. about how everything will be better. about how barack obama, president obama needs more time and he will take care of it in

another four years. but i just think that mitt romney has got the total package. he is just, you know, ready to take care of the country. one thing that i do not really get is why they attacked mitt romney so much when, as far as charity and stuff goes, i have heard that he gives a lot to charity. i actually heard that when he was governor, he never really except that anything as governor. >> ok, i would get a response from jeff on those points. thanks for calling in. >> that is one of those things that the mitt romney campaign was trying to fill in at the last convention. i was both struck by the introduction of people who

showed his mormon faith and tried to humanize this thing that we have not really seen. if the mitt romney campaign had been doing their job, mo vote -- more voters would be seeing him in a more favorable light. >> one compare and contrast, michelle obama tonight. here are the comments from denver, four years ago. [no audio] [applause] >> in the end, after all of that happened over the past 19 months -- the barack obama i know today is the same man that i fell in love with 19 years ago. [applause] the same man that drove me and

our new baby daughter home from a hospital 10 years ago this summer, inching along at a snail's pace, appearing at us anxiously through the rearview mirror. feeling the whole weight of her future in his hands, determined to give her everything that he struggled so hard for himself. determined to give her something that he never had, the affirming embrace of a father's love. [applause] as i took that little girl in, tucking her into bed at night, i think about one day they will have families of their own. one day they and your sons and daughters will tell their own children about what we did together in this election. [applause]

they will tell them how this time we listened to our hopes instead of our fears. [applause] how this time we decided to stop doubting and started dreaming. [applause] how this time, in this great country a girl from the south side of chicago can go to college and law school, the son of a single mother from hawaii can go all the way to the white house. [applause] we committed ourselves to building the world as it should be. so, tonight, in honor of my father's memory and my daughter's future, out of gratitude for those whose triumph we mark this week and every day sacrifices have brought us to this moment, let's

contribute to finishing the book, standing together to elect barack obama president of the united states of america. thank you. god bless you. god bless america. [cheers and applause] >> that was michelle obama, four years ago. all of our previous convention coverage is available on our web site. you can see some exclusive feeds from past conventions. cher and view clips and read the latest twitter messages that we have accumulated. this speech is very similar to what they had to do in tampa, florida. >> i do not think that she will go through the same things. at that point she was

introducing her husband to a country that did not know that much about him. now he is fully defined. i expect her to talk more about his views on things. how hard he has worked, working to make the economy work better for people in the middle class. we will hear a middle-class teen to route. we will hear from ordinary americans. it is not going to be policy and details specifics, but it will be rooted in policy. much less of an introduction and more of a reminder of what people may have liked about him four years ago. >> we will grab one more call and then we will let you go to your day job. mark, inglewood, new jersey. go ahead. >> my question is, 20 minutes ago you had on the information

officer of the democratic party. he made it very clear that he of hisred c-span and armo ability to get his message out. what business does c-span have taking sides are showing favoritism? is that not what the whole problem is here? reporter showing a bent i am reporting the news? -- in reporting the news? you cannot tell any more of something is an opinion piece or a fact. i would hope that c-span would rescind the message of hope and put in partiaimpartial reportin. he described you as an arm of

the party. >> i have to jump in. that is not what he said. he was talking about the information that people get. if you watch our coverage last weekend, we provided gavel-to- gavel coverage and we were doing exactly the same thing in charlotte, north carolina. we are the only network that will give you uninterrupted coverage of the proceedings. he was referring to sources of information, not anyone news organization. jeff, would you like to respond? >> americans who are watching are getting a window into both sides. i guess my question is, how many americans are watching? viewership was down at the republican convention. it used to be that not that long ago the campaigns started on

labor day. now it seems they are almost nearing the end of the final chapter. i am not sure that the convention theme of getting a bounce out of your convention is in play any more, largely because people have made up their minds. i saw you in florida, then again in charlotte. i think that the voters are able to decide for themselves. i was also of the republican convention, talking to a lot of delegates. we are on the country talking to voters, covering this campaign and both candidates. >> one final question to you, jeff, as this convention wraps up, what will you be looking for? what will be the benchmarks in the next couple of weeks? >> there is not much time left

in this campaign. once the convention ends, we will be focusing on the final three weeks before the debate. the first is on october 3 in denver. mitt romney is not out campaigning this week, when he would have the country to himself, if you wanted to. he is in vermont, preparing for the debate. those debates on the most important things to happen in the month of october. there will be three presidential debates, one vice-presidential debate. early voting begins on the 27. this election, election day is no longer one single day. this campaign is quickly wrapping towards an end. >> you have done a terrific job dealing with all the noise and side of the arena. your work, thank you very much

for being with us on c-span. >> thank you. >> the first time the first lady deliver remarks -- that any first lady deliver remarks before a convention was 1940, eleanor roosevelt. we have a look back at the spouses of democratic nominee -- of delegate nominees. [video clips] >> our child has been healthy, and we are lucky. but bill and i could not sleep at all one night the chelsea was in hospital. our experience is nothing like the emotional strain that parents feel when their children are seriously ill. often they worry about where they will get the money to pay the medical bills. that is why my husband has always felt that american families should have affordable

health insurance. [applause] just last week, the president signed a bill sponsored by senators kennedy and applebaum, a democrat and republican, that will enable 25 million americans to keep their health insurance, even when they switch jobs, lose a job, or have a family member who has been set. this still contains some of the key provisions from the president's proposal for health care reform. it was an important step, achieved only after both parties agreed to build progress, not block progress, making health care available to all americans.

now the country must take the next step, of helping unemployed americans and their children keep health insurance for six months after losing their job. [applause] >> many of you know that faith and family are our sisters. = -- many of you know al is looking to make this a steadfast reality for our people. i also want you to know that as my husband, father and grandfather, he has always been there for our family. he will always be there for your family.

today the best angels of our nature are just waiting to be summoned. we only require a leader who is willing to call on them. a leader willing to pull the mystic chords of our national memory. a reminder of all that we the people, every day leaders, can do. a role that we as a nation feel. and of all the immense possibilities that lie ahead, i think i have found that guy. [cheers and applause] and i am married to him. john kerry will give us back

our faith in america. he will restore our faith in ourselves. in the sense of limitless opportunity that has always been the american gift to the world. together we will lift up everyone. we have to. it is possible. you know what? it is the american thing to do. good night. god bless you. >> what struck me when i first met him is that even though he had this funny name, and even though he had grown up across the continent in hawaii, his family was so much like mine. he was raised by working-class grandparents that were just like my parents. by a single mother who struggled to pay the bills, just like we

did. scrimping and saving, we were raised with so many of the same values. like -- work hard for what you would not -- work hard for what you want in life. your word is your bond. treat people with dignity and respect, even if you do not know them, even if you do not agree with them. [cheers and applause] >> that was michelle obama and other spouses of previous democratic nominees. on your screen is a former candidate, jesse jackson, he ran in 1984 and again in 1988. the gavel will come down in 25 minutes. we want to turn our attention to the other speaker tonight. the keynote address from the

mayor of san antonio. we got him in june of 2007. here is the mayor of san antonio. [video clip] >> we had in front of us a picture of low taxes, low regulation. but if you start to look at the future of our state, particularly the latino community, it is a completely different picture. it often goes on said, on analyzed -- unsaid, unanalyzed. it is not our job to complain about reality, it is our job to change it. the future is certainly a cause for concern, but it is not a concern that is outside of our

control. we had the opportunity, through engaging constituents, to see that more of them get to the polls and vote. we must acknowledge those generations to have worked hard so that we can have the positions that they have. significantly lower than any other group in the united states. the fact is, the latinos and texans in the united states voted at the rate -- if they voted at the rate of african americans, we could make a difference. >> that is the mayor of san antonio, texas. we will hear more from him tonight in the keynote address. >> [no audio]

>> a great deal of excitement. i think people are expecting him to talk a lot of the san antonio in his speech. he will connect the economic prospects of san antonio with the economic prospects of the country. the economy has been doing well. last year the milken institute rated it the best in the country in terms of sustaining jobs. a big reason he was elected. >> he is the first hispanic, the first mayor, and he is pretty young. tell us some important points about his biography. >> at 28, he was the youngest council member to be elected. going back even further, he was

raised on the west side of san antonio, by his mother. she was the leader of the party that fought for civil rights for mexican americans, better jobs, better housing, better education. her mother was an immigrant from mexico. he grew up relatively poor, on the west side. he made it to stanford and harvard law school. he considers his story one of american success against the odds. >> you will have a special introduction to life from his brother, is identical twin. >> yes. >> how do they interact? >> they are each other's closest confidants. i was profiling him for a story that i wrote a couple of years

ago. i think that he called him two or three times on one car ride alone. they are constantly touching base with each other. on this speech they batted ideas back and forth. >> is it known if he has further aspirations in politics? >> he has said that he will stay put for now. he has been in office since 2009. he has a lot of long range initiatives. he is trying to convince the voters of san antonio to decrease the sales tax by one eighth in order to support more programs. this is a quality of the mayor

that people might find interesting. he styled himself as obama did, as beyond partisan as a politician. this is not about politics, it is about the city. that is his message. he is able to get the support of conservatives in the city. >> some national conservative publications have been critical of the mayor's success, suggesting that there are conditions beyond his control, like the natural gas industry in the area. what is the record actually like? >> this is a play that has opened up just south of san antonio. his focus has been done creating

jobs, however. whether or not it is attributable to the natural gas field south of san antonio, it might be a mixture. >> what can we expect from his speaking style? >> he will talk about something called the infrastructure of opportunity. >> in terms of style? >> i think he is going to try to put in optimism and the positive. you will not see the attacks on mitt romney be too sharp. i think he wants to be aspirational, styling himself after obama of 2004. >> you are covering him at the convention for the first time, many of us will be seeing him for the first time in this platform. thank you for talking to us. >> thank you for having me.

>> the keynote address, 10:00 eastern time, followed by the remarks from michelle obama. the gavel will come down in 18 minutes. with an eye on the keynote address. we will take a look at past addresses. charles is on the line from oregon. good afternoon. >> good afternoon. my big complaints is that president obama keeps blaming congress, yet no one has done anything about the 2006 election, when the democrats took over. that is when everything went to pack. h -- eck -- heck. >> ok.

anthony, n.c.. >> i want to see democrats make a clear choice. which i think is pretty simple. when you think of hoover, nixon, romney, ryan, clinton and gore, obama and biden. there is oligarchy and plutocracy, or there is democracy. i prefer the latter, not the former. >> thank you for the call. we welcome our listeners on c- span radio, coast-to-coast. this convention is streamed on our website. also, check out the convention hub. you can share video from this convention and look back at past conventions online, any time at c-span.org. speaking of our video library,

let's look back at past keynote addresses. let's listen. [video clip] >> ever since franklin roosevelt lifted his wheelchair to pull the nation from its knees, housing, peace, the whole family of old, constantly reaching out to extend and enlarge the family, lifting them up along the way. blacks, hispanics, people of every ethnic group. all of those struggling to build their families and claim some small share of america. for nearly 50 years we carried them to new levels of comfort, security, and dignity. remember this, some of us in this room are here only because this nation has that kind of confidence. it would be wrong to forget that. [cheers and applause]

>> i am delighted to be here with you this evening. after listening to george bush all of these years, i figured you needed to know what a real texas accent sounded like. [cheers and applause] 12 years ago, barbara jordan, another texas woman -- [cheers and applause] barbara made the keynote address to this convention. and two women in 150 years is about par for the course.

but, if you give us a chance, we can perform. after all, ginger rogers did everything that fred astaire did, she just did it backwards and in high heels. [cheers and applause] >> there appears to be a general apprehension in the country about the future. that apprehension undermines our faith in each other and our faith in ourselves. undermines the confidence. the idea that america today would be better tomorrow has become destabilized. it has become destabilized because of the recession and the sluggishness of the economy.

jobs lost have become permanent unemployment, rather than cyclical. the public mind, public policy makers are held in low regard. mistrust of bounds. it is understandable the change would become the watchword of this time. >> it is the fundamental belief that i am my brother's keeper, i am my sister's keeper, that makes this country work. it is what allows us to pursue our individual dreams. out of many, one.

even as we speak, there are those who are preparing to devour us. those who embrace the politics of anything goes. to them tonight i say that there is not a liberal america or a conservative america, there is a united states of america. black america or a white america, a latino america or asia and america, there is the united states of america. the pundits, the pundits like to sniped our country into red states and blue states, red state for republican, blue state for democrats. i have news for them as well. we worship an awesome god in the blue states and we do not like them pushing around the libraries in the red states. >> the keynote address is a key

slot, as we can see from the barack obama state senator speech. the gavel comes down in just a couple of minutes. tonight includes voting on convention rules and the party platform. other speakers tonight include jimmy carter, addressing the delegates to vote -- by video. with an eye on 2016. martin o'malley is making his rounds. he made his first appearance as the mayor of baltimore back in 2004. >> my friends, for this generation of americans to have a rendezvous with destiny, we must choose. we must choose to build a stronger america. we must choose to defend the brave and generous america that our parents and grandparents were courageous enough to choose for us. america the beautiful, whose

cities gleam. my friends, to govern is to choose. at this hour, the man and the mission have met. the man is here and the choice is ours. in november, we choose to american security. in november we choose the man who bravely answered his country's calls. he is prepared to answer the call for us now and we have chosen the right president for these times. the right president for the united states. we choose john kerry, john kerry, john kerry. ♪

>> that was the mayor of baltimore, maryland, now the governor, martin o'malley. boston, massachusetts. with more on his remarks tonight, some speculate 2016. >> we are here with the washington correspondent for "the baltimore sun." >> i think he is trying to walk a fine line between elevating his profile and not appearing to. he has been at many events back- to-back. he has also spoken to hispanic voters, jewish voters. he has had a lot of offense here. i think he is trying to be careful not to overdo it. chris christie in tampa, all of these folks being talked about for 2016 are being careful to keep the focus on the nominee as much as possible. [inaudible]o

>> i followed him this morning, i followed him late last night. he is all over charlotte. >> are these messages not about his core beliefs? >> there is a bit of both. for the large part, those two are in sync. he is on the sunday talk shows almost every sunday. he is a very practiced message man for the party and the speech they you will see tonight will reflect that. >> virginia and maryland have very different governors. what is the economic record that governor o'malley is pushing? >> the state is in better shape

than many others. he has that to his advantage. but there are some policies going back from him here. republicans have been pushing about the tax policies in maryland. an increase in income tax rates since the past session. some of that stuff is coming back to him and it will be heavily scrutinized, if he actually pulls the trigger. >> just before the 10:00 hour [inaudible] >> he has a fairly short speech, as i understand it. i asked him about this last night. he says he will be focused on obama and the nominees. his line is one from the campaign, talking about moving things forward and not back. he will contrast those policies.

>> thank you for talking with us. >> thanks for having me on. >> susan, thank you so much. one of the other moments tonight, 7:30 eastern time, a seven minute tribute video to the late senator edward kennedy. he made his final appearance at the convention in denver in 2008. >> barack obama believes too much in an america-civil and bold in denver. how -- aha in an america of high and bold endeavor. our people answered the call and rose to the challenge.

today an american flag still marks the service of the moon. [cheers and applause] yes, we are all americans. this is what we do. we reached the moon. we scale heights. i know it, i've seen it, i have lived it, and we can do it again. [applause] there is a new wave of change around us. and, if we set our compass true, we will reach our destination. not merely victory for the party, but renewal for the nation. this november, the torch will be passed again to a new generation

of americans. so, with barack obama and for you, and for me, our country will be committed to his cause. the work begins anew. the hope rises again. the dream lives on. [cheers and applause] >> with a reference to the senator kennedy speech from 1980, his final appearance in 2008, and all of our coverage available on the convention hub, the c-span radio library, check it out. you can flip and share videos. check out twitter messages as we provide compilations at c- span.org. let's take a look at the schedule as the gavel comes down

shortly. at 5:00 eastern time we -- we will hear from debbie wasserman schultz. we will also hear from the convention share, antonio villaraigosa. led by the convention parliamentarian, the hoyer, voting on rules and party platforms. remarks from the governor of north carolina and illinois -- governors of north carolina and illinois. 7:00 eastern time, the house democratic leader, nancy pelosi, the leader of the senate, harry reid, and jimmy carter will address the delegates by video. tammy duckworth, a candidate for the house in illinois, and lincoln chafee of rhode island. james cliburn, south carolina. 9:00, kathleen sebelius amongst other speakers, like governor duval patrick and rohm emmanuel.